Is Amcor Limited (ASX:AMC) A Sell At Its Current PE Ratio?
Amcor Limited (ASX:AMC) is trading with a trailing P/E of 18.9x, which is higher than the industry average of 17.7x. While AMC might seem like a stock to avoid or sell if you own it, it is important to understand the assumptions behind the P/E ratio before you make any investment decisions. In this article, 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 Amcor
Demystifying the P/E ratio
The P/E ratio is one of many ratios used in relative valuation. 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 AMC
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
AMC Price-Earnings Ratio = $10.47 ÷ $0.553 = 18.9x
The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. We preferably want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar features to AMC, such as capital structure and profitability. One way of gathering a peer group is to use firms in the same industry, which is what I’ll do. At 18.9x, AMC’s P/E is higher than its industry peers (17.7x). This implies that investors are overvaluing each dollar of AMC’s earnings. Therefore, according to this analysis, AMC is an over-priced stock.
A few caveats
While our conclusion might prompt you to sell your AMC shares immediately, there are two important assumptions you should be aware of. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to AMC, or else the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if you are comparing lower risk firms with AMC, then its P/E would naturally be lower than its peers, as investors would value those with lower risk at a higher price. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing AMC to are fairly valued by the market. If this is violated, AMC’s P/E may be lower than its peers as they are actually overvalued by investors.
What this means for you:
You may have already conducted fundamental analysis on the stock as a shareholder, so its current overvaluation could signal a potential selling opportunity to reduce your exposure to AMC. Now that you understand the ins and outs of the PE metric, you should know to bear in mind its limitations before you make an investment decision. 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 highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for AMC’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for AMC’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has AMC 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 AMC’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.
