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A Rising Share Price Has Us Looking Closely At Delek US Holdings, Inc.'s (NYSE:DK) P/E Ratio

Delek US Holdings (NYSE:DK) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 40% in the last month alone, although it is still down 48% over the last quarter. However, that doesn't change the fact that longer term shareholders might have been mercilessly wrecked by the 54% share price decline throughout the year.

All else being equal, a sharp share price increase should make a stock less attractive to potential investors. 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). So some would prefer to hold off buying when there is a lot of optimism towards a stock. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.

Check out our latest analysis for Delek US Holdings

How Does Delek US Holdings's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Delek US Holdings's P/E of 4.34 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. The image below shows that Delek US Holdings has a lower P/E than the average (7.9) P/E for companies in the oil and gas industry.

NYSE:DK Price Estimation Relative to Market April 8th 2020
NYSE:DK Price Estimation Relative to Market April 8th 2020

Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that Delek US Holdings shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. When earnings grow, the 'E' increases, over time. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

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Delek US Holdings's earnings per share fell by 4.4% in the last twelve months. But it has grown its earnings per share by 3.6% per year over the last five years.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. 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.

How Does Delek US Holdings's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Delek US Holdings has net debt worth 88% of its market capitalization. This is enough debt that you'd have to make some adjustments before using the P/E ratio to compare it to a company with net cash.

The Bottom Line On Delek US Holdings's P/E Ratio

Delek US Holdings has a P/E of 4.3. That's below the average in the US market, which is 13.0. The P/E reflects market pessimism that probably arises from the lack of recent EPS growth, paired with significant leverage. What is very clear is that the market has become less pessimistic about Delek US Holdings over the last month, with the P/E ratio rising from 3.1 back then to 4.3 today. If you like to buy stocks that could be turnaround opportunities, then this one might be a candidate; but if you're more sensitive to price, then you may feel the opportunity has passed.

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

But note: Delek US Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.