Yahoo Finance Is It Time To Sell Qube Holdings Limited (ASX:QUB) Based Off Its PE Ratio?
The content of this article will benefit those of you who are starting to educate yourself about investing in the stock market and want to better understand how you can grow your money by investing in Qube Holdings Limited (ASX:QUB).
Qube Holdings Limited (ASX:QUB) is currently trading at a trailing P/E of 50.6x, which is higher than the industry average of 22.5x. While this makes QUB appear like a stock to avoid or sell if you own it, you might change your mind after I explain the assumptions behind the P/E ratio. Today, I will break down what the P/E ratio is, how to interpret it and what to watch out for. See our latest analysis for Qube Holdings
Demystifying the P/E ratio
P/E is often used for relative valuation since earnings power is a chief driver of investment value. It compares a stock’s price per share to the stock’s earnings per share. A more intuitive way of understanding the P/E ratio is to think of it as how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.
P/E Calculation for QUB
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
QUB Price-Earnings Ratio = A$2.41 ÷ A$0.0477 = 50.6x
The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. Our goal is to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar attributes to QUB, such as company lifetime and products sold. One way of gathering a peer group is to use firms in the same industry, which is what I’ll do. At 50.6x, QUB’s P/E is higher than its industry peers (22.5x). This implies that investors are overvaluing each dollar of QUB’s earnings. As such, our analysis shows that QUB represents an over-priced stock.
Assumptions to be aware of
Before you jump to the conclusion that QUB should be banished from your portfolio, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to QUB, or else the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if you compared lower risk firms with QUB, 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 QUB to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold, there is a possibility that QUB’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 QUB, the overvaluation of the stock may mean it is a good time to reduce 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 QUB’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for QUB’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has QUB 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 QUB’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.
