Is Bank of Commerce Holdings (BOCH) A Buy At Its Current Price?
Bank of Commerce Holdings (NASDAQ:BOCH) is currently trading at a trailing P/E of 17.6x, which is lower than the industry average of 17.8x. While BOCH might seem like an attractive stock to buy, it is important to understand the assumptions behind the P/E ratio before you make any investment decisions. Today, 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 BOCH
Breaking down the Price-Earnings ratio
A common ratio used for relative valuation is the P/E ratio. 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 BOCH
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
BOCH Price-Earnings Ratio = 11.7 ÷ 0.664 = 17.6x
The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. We want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar characteristics as BOCH, such as size and country of operation. A quick method of creating a peer group is to use companies in the same industry, which is what I will do. Since BOCH’s P/E of 17.6x is lower than its industry peers (17.8x), it means that investors are paying less than they should for each dollar of BOCH’s earnings. Therefore, according to this analysis, BOCH is an under-priced stock.
Assumptions to be aware of
Before you jump to the conclusion that BOCH is the perfect buying opportunity, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. Firstly, our peer group contains companies that are similar to BOCH. If this isn’t the case, the difference in P/E could be due to other factors. For example, if you compared lower risk firms with BOCH, 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 BOCH to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold, there is a possibility that BOCH’s P/E is lower because our peer group is overvalued by the market.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? Since you may have already conducted your due diligence on BOCH, the undervaluation of the stock may mean it is a good time to top up on 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.
Are you a potential investor? If BOCH has been on your watch list for a while, it is best you also consider its intrinsic valuation. Looking at PE on its own will not give you the full picture of the stock as an investment, so I suggest you should also look at other relative valuation metrics like EV/EBITDA or PEG.
PE is one aspect of your portfolio construction to consider when holding or entering into a stock. But it is certainly not the only factor. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on Bank of Commerce Holdings for a more in-depth analysis of the stock to help you make a well-informed investment decision. Since we know a limitation of PE is it doesn’t properly account for growth, you can use our free platform to see my list of stocks with a high growth potential and see if their PE is still reasonable.
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.
