Is Luk Fook Holdings (International) Limited (HKG:590) A Sell At Its Current PE Ratio?
This article is intended for those of you who are at the beginning of your investing journey and want to better understand how you can grow your money by investing in Luk Fook Holdings (International) Limited (HKG:590).
Luk Fook Holdings (International) Limited (HKG:590) is trading with a trailing P/E of 16x, which is higher than the industry average of 13.5x. While 590 might seem like a stock to avoid or sell if you own it, it is important to understand the assumptions behind the P/E ratio before you make any investment decisions. In this article, I will explain what the P/E ratio is as well as what you should look out for when using it. View out our latest analysis for Luk Fook Holdings (International)
Breaking down the P/E ratio
The P/E ratio is one of many ratios used in relative valuation. By comparing a stock’s price per share to its earnings per share, we are able to see how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.
P/E Calculation for 590
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
590 Price-Earnings Ratio = HK$30.2 ÷ HK$1.888 = 16x
The P/E ratio itself doesn’t tell you a lot; however, it becomes very insightful when you compare it with other similar companies. We preferably want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar features to 590, such as capital structure and profitability. A common peer group is companies that exist in the same industry, which is what I use. Since 590’s P/E of 16x is higher than its industry peers (13.5x), it means that investors are paying more than they should for each dollar of 590’s earnings. Therefore, according to this analysis, 590 is an over-priced stock.
A few caveats
Before you jump to the conclusion that 590 should be banished from your portfolio, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. Firstly, our peer group contains companies that are similar to 590. If this isn’t the case, the difference in P/E could be due to other factors. For example, if you compared lower risk firms with 590, then investors would naturally value it at a lower price since it is a riskier investment. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing 590 to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold true, 590’s lower P/E ratio may be because firms in our peer group are overvalued by the market.
What this means for you:
If your personal research into the stock confirms what the P/E ratio is telling you, it might be a good time to rebalance your portfolio and reduce your holdings in 590. But keep in mind that the usefulness of relative valuation depends on whether you are comfortable with making the assumptions I mentioned above. Remember that basing your investment decision off one metric alone is certainly not sufficient. There are many things I have not taken into account in this article and the PE ratio is very one-dimensional. If you have not done so already, I highly recommend you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 590’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 590’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has 590 been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of 590’s historicals for more clarity.
Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.
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.
