Here's What Pilgrim's Pride Corporation's (NASDAQ:PPC) P/E Is Telling Us
This article is written for those who want to get better at using price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll apply a basic P/E ratio analysis to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation's (NASDAQ:PPC), to help you decide if the stock is worth further research. Looking at earnings over the last twelve months, Pilgrim's Pride has a P/E ratio of 25.00. That corresponds to an earnings yield of approximately 4.0%.
Check out our latest analysis for Pilgrim's Pride
How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?
The formula for P/E is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for Pilgrim's Pride:
P/E of 25.00 = $27.70 ÷ $1.11 (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)
Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio means that buyers have to pay a higher price for each $1 the company has earned over the last year. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.
How Does Pilgrim's Pride's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (24.5) for companies in the food industry is roughly the same as Pilgrim's Pride's P/E.
Its P/E ratio suggests that Pilgrim's Pride shareholders think that in the future it will perform about the same as other companies in its industry classification. If the company has better than average prospects, then the market might be underestimating it. Further research into factors such as insider buying and selling, could help you form your own view on whether that is likely.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Companies that shrink earnings per share quickly will rapidly decrease the 'E' in the equation. That means even if the current P/E is low, it will increase over time if the share price stays flat. So while a stock may look cheap based on past earnings, it could be expensive based on future earnings.
Pilgrim's Pride saw earnings per share decrease by 54% last year. And it has shrunk its earnings per share by 14% per year over the last five years. This might lead to muted expectations.
Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet
One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.
While growth expenditure doesn't always pay off, the point is that it is a good option to have; but one that the P/E ratio ignores.
Pilgrim's Pride's Balance Sheet
Net debt is 26% of Pilgrim's Pride's market cap. You'd want to be aware of this fact, but it doesn't bother us.
The Bottom Line On Pilgrim's Pride's P/E Ratio
Pilgrim's Pride's P/E is 25.0 which is above average (17.8) in its market. With modest debt but no EPS growth in the last year, it's fair to say the P/E implies some optimism about future earnings, from the market.
Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.
But note: Pilgrim's Pride may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).
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.
