Does High Liner Foods Incorporated (TSE:HLF) Have A Good P/E Ratio?
The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll show how you can use High Liner Foods Incorporated's (TSE:HLF) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. What is High Liner Foods's P/E ratio? Well, based on the last twelve months it is 13.45. That means that at current prices, buyers pay CA$13.45 for every CA$1 in trailing yearly profits.
View our latest analysis for High Liner Foods
How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price (in reporting currency) ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for High Liner Foods:
P/E of 13.45 = $7.74 (Note: this is the share price in the reporting currency, namely, USD ) ÷ $0.58 (Based on the year to June 2019.)
Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio implies that investors pay a higher price for the earning power of the business. That isn't a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the business's prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E.
How Does High Liner Foods's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. The image below shows that High Liner Foods has a lower P/E than the average (20.7) P/E for companies in the food industry.
Its relatively low P/E ratio indicates that High Liner Foods shareholders think it will struggle to do as well as other companies in its industry classification. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. 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
If earnings fall then in the future the 'E' will be lower. Therefore, even if you pay a low multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become higher in the future. A higher P/E should indicate the stock is expensive relative to others -- and that may encourage shareholders to sell.
High Liner Foods's earnings per share fell by 42% in the last twelve months. And EPS is down 12% a year, over the last 5 years. This might lead to muted expectations.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. 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 expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.
So What Does High Liner Foods's Balance Sheet Tell Us?
Net debt totals a substantial 120% of High Liner Foods's market cap. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.
The Verdict On High Liner Foods's P/E Ratio
High Liner Foods trades on a P/E ratio of 13.4, which is fairly close to the CA market average of 13.8. With significant debt and no EPS growth last year, the P/E suggests shareholders are expecting higher profit in the future.
Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If it is underestimating a company, investors can make money by buying and holding the shares until the market corrects itself. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.
Of course you might be able to find a better stock than High Liner Foods. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.
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.
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. Thank you for reading.
