Do You Like First Capital, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCAP) At This P/E Ratio?
This article is for investors who would like to improve their understanding of price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, we’ll show how First Capital, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:FCAP) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Based on the last twelve months, First Capital’s P/E ratio is 15.27. That is equivalent to an earnings yield of about 6.6%.
View our latest analysis for First Capital
How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for First Capital:
P/E of 15.27 = $38.28 ÷ $2.51 (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2018.)
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 Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. That’s because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the ‘E’ in the equation. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others — and that may attract buyers.
First Capital saw earnings per share improve by -9.9% last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 5.2%.
How Does First Capital’s P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. If you look at the image below, you can see First Capital has a lower P/E than the average (16.5) in the mortgage industry classification.
This suggests that market participants think First Capital will underperform other companies in its industry. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
Don’t forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.
Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).
How Does First Capital’s Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?
Since First Capital holds net cash of US$59m, it can spend on growth, justifying a higher P/E ratio than otherwise.
The Verdict On First Capital’s P/E Ratio
First Capital trades on a P/E ratio of 15.3, which is fairly close to the US market average of 15.6. EPS was up modestly better over the last twelve months. Also positive, the relatively strong balance sheet will allow for investment in growth. If this occurs the current P/E might prove to signify undervaluation.
Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. We don’t have analyst forecasts, but you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.
To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
