When Should You Buy China HGS Real Estate Inc (HGSH)?
China HGS Real Estate Inc (NASDAQ:HGSH) is currently trading at a trailing P/E of 18x, which is lower than the industry average of 28.5x. While HGSH 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. View our latest analysis for China HGS Real Estate
Breaking down the Price-Earnings ratio
A common ratio used for relative valuation is the P/E ratio. 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 HGSH
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
HGSH Price-Earnings Ratio = 1.2 ÷ 0.067 = 18x
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 HGSH, such as capital structure and profitability. A quick method of creating a peer group is to use companies in the same industry, which is what I will do. At 18x, HGSH’s P/E is lower than its industry peers (28.5x). This implies that investors are undervaluing each dollar of HGSH’s earnings. Therefore, according to this analysis, HGSH is an under-priced stock.
Assumptions to watch out for
Before you jump to the conclusion that HGSH is the perfect buying opportunity, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to HGSH, or else the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if you are comparing lower risk firms with HGSH, 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 HGSH to are fairly valued by the market. If this is violated, HGSH’s P/E may be lower than its peers as they are actually overvalued by investors.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? If your personal research into the stock confirms what the P/E ratio is telling you, it might be a good time to add more of HGSH to your portfolio. But keep in mind that the usefulness of relative valuation depends on whether you are comfortable with making the assumptions I mentioned above.
Are you a potential investor? If HGSH 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 China HGS Real Estate 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.
