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A Rising Share Price Has Us Looking Closely At Ashtead Group plc's (LON:AHT) P/E Ratio

Ashtead Group (LON:AHT) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 36% in the last month alone, although it is still down 17% over the last quarter. The full year gain of 16% is pretty reasonable, too.

Assuming no other changes, a sharply higher share price makes a stock less attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that deep value investors might steer clear when expectations of a company are too high. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

View our latest analysis for Ashtead Group

How Does Ashtead Group's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Ashtead Group has a P/E ratio of 12.89. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (13.5) for companies in the trade distributors industry is roughly the same as Ashtead Group's P/E.

LSE:AHT Price Estimation Relative to Market May 22nd 2020
LSE:AHT Price Estimation Relative to Market May 22nd 2020

That indicates that the market expects Ashtead Group will perform roughly in line with other companies in its industry. The company could surprise by performing better than average, in the future. I would further inform my view by checking insider buying and selling., among other things.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.

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It's great to see that Ashtead Group grew EPS by 15% in the last year. And earnings per share have improved by 25% annually, over the last five years. So one might expect an above average P/E ratio.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

Ashtead Group's Balance Sheet

Ashtead Group has net debt equal to 43% of its market cap. While it's worth keeping this in mind, it isn't a worry.

The Verdict On Ashtead Group's P/E Ratio

Ashtead Group's P/E is 12.9 which is below average (14.0) in the GB market. The company does have a little debt, and EPS growth was good last year. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. What is very clear is that the market has become more optimistic about Ashtead Group over the last month, with the P/E ratio rising from 9.5 back then to 12.9 today. If you like to buy stocks that have recently impressed the market, then this one might be a candidate; but if you prefer to invest when there is 'blood in the streets', then you may feel the opportunity has passed.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Ashtead Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.