Yahoo Finance Does Brambles Limited’s (ASX:BXB) PE Ratio Signal A Buying Opportunity?
Brambles Limited (ASX:BXB) trades with a trailing P/E of 14.9x, which is lower than the industry average of 15.5x. While this makes BXB appear like a great stock to buy, you might change your mind after I explain the assumptions behind the P/E ratio. Today, I will explain what the P/E ratio is as well as what you should look out for when using it. See our latest analysis for Brambles
Breaking down the Price-Earnings ratio
P/E is often used for relative valuation since earnings power is a chief driver of investment value. By comparing a stock’s price per share to its earnings per share, we are able to see how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.
P/E Calculation for BXB
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
BXB Price-Earnings Ratio = $6.86 ÷ $0.46 = 14.9x
On its own, the P/E ratio doesn’t tell you much; however, it becomes extremely useful when you compare it with other similar companies. Our goal is to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar attributes to BXB, such as company lifetime and products sold. A common peer group is companies that exist in the same industry, which is what I use. Since BXB’s P/E of 14.9x is lower than its industry peers (15.5x), it means that investors are paying less than they should for each dollar of BXB’s earnings. As such, our analysis shows that BXB represents an under-priced stock.
A few caveats
However, before you rush out to buy BXB, it is important to note that this conclusion is based on two key assumptions. Firstly, our peer group contains companies that are similar to BXB. If this isn’t the case, the difference in P/E could be due to other factors. For example, if you compared lower risk firms with BXB, then investors would naturally value it at a lower price since it is a riskier investment. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing BXB to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold, there is a possibility that BXB’s P/E is lower because our peer group is overvalued by the market.
What this means for you:
Since you may have already conducted your due diligence on BXB, the undervaluation of the stock may mean it is a good time to top up on your current holdings. But at the end of the day, keep in mind that relative valuation relies heavily on critical assumptions I’ve outlined above. Remember that basing your investment decision off one metric alone is certainly not sufficient. There are many things I have not taken into account in this article and the PE ratio is very one-dimensional. If you have not done so already, I urge you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for BXB’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for BXB’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has BXB been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of BXB’s historicals for more clarity.
Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.
