Yahoo Finance A Sliding Share Price Has Us Looking At Beach Energy Limited's (ASX:BPT) P/E Ratio
Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) share price has dived 54% in the last thirty days. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 54% drop over twelve months.
Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more 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 long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business 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.
View our latest analysis for Beach Energy
Does Beach Energy Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
Beach Energy's P/E of 3.86 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (7.6) for companies in the oil and gas industry is higher than Beach Energy's P/E.
Beach Energy's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. That's because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the 'E' in the equation. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.
Beach Energy increased earnings per share by a whopping 48% last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 3 years is 58%. So we'd generally expect it to have a relatively high P/E ratio.
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. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).
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.
Is Debt Impacting Beach Energy's P/E?
Since Beach Energy holds net cash of AU$65m, it can spend on growth, justifying a higher P/E ratio than otherwise.
The Bottom Line On Beach Energy's P/E Ratio
Beach Energy has a P/E of 3.9. That's below the average in the AU market, which is 13.3. The net cash position gives plenty of options to the business, and the recent improvement in EPS is good to see. The relatively low P/E ratio implies the market is pessimistic. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become more pessimistic about Beach Energy over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 8.4 back then to 3.9 today. For those who prefer invest in growth, this stock apparently offers limited promise, but the deep value investors may find the pessimism around this stock enticing.
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 visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.
Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Beach Energy. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.
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.
