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Do You Know What Beijing Enterprises Environment Group Limited's (HKG:154) P/E Ratio Means?

Today, we'll introduce the concept of the P/E ratio for those who are learning about investing. We'll apply a basic P/E ratio analysis to Beijing Enterprises Environment Group Limited's (HKG:154), to help you decide if the stock is worth further research. Looking at earnings over the last twelve months, Beijing Enterprises Environment Group has a P/E ratio of 3.37. In other words, at today's prices, investors are paying HK$3.37 for every HK$1 in prior year profit.

View our latest analysis for Beijing Enterprises Environment Group

How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?

The formula for P/E is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Beijing Enterprises Environment Group:

P/E of 3.37 = HKD0.63 ÷ HKD0.19 (Based on the year to June 2019.)

Is A High P/E Ratio Good?

The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That isn't necessarily good or bad, but a high P/E implies relatively high expectations of what a company can achieve in the future.

Does Beijing Enterprises Environment Group Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. The image below shows that Beijing Enterprises Environment Group has a lower P/E than the average (12.3) P/E for companies in the commercial services industry.

SEHK:154 Price Estimation Relative to Market, February 29th 2020
SEHK:154 Price Estimation Relative to Market, February 29th 2020

Beijing Enterprises Environment Group's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same 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.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

Beijing Enterprises Environment Group increased earnings per share by an impressive 20% over the last twelve months. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 106%. This could arguably justify a relatively high P/E ratio.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

How Does Beijing Enterprises Environment Group's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Beijing Enterprises Environment Group has net debt worth a very significant 234% of its market capitalization. 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 Bottom Line On Beijing Enterprises Environment Group's P/E Ratio

Beijing Enterprises Environment Group has a P/E of 3.4. That's below the average in the HK market, which is 9.9. The company may have significant debt, but EPS growth was good last year. The low P/E ratio suggests current market expectations are muted, implying these levels of growth will not continue.

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. Although we don't have analyst forecasts 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 be able to find a better stock than Beijing Enterprises Environment Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.

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