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What Is Neenah's (NYSE:NP) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked?

Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Neenah (NYSE:NP) share price has dived 35% in the last thirty days. That drop has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 38% in that time.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So, on certain occasions, long term focussed investors try to take advantage of pessimistic expectations to buy shares at a better price. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E implies that investors have high expectations of what a company can achieve compared to a company with a low P/E ratio.

View our latest analysis for Neenah

How Does Neenah's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Neenah's P/E of 12.13 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. As you can see below, Neenah has a higher P/E than the average company (10.3) in the forestry industry.

NYSE:NP Price Estimation Relative to Market March 27th 2020
NYSE:NP Price Estimation Relative to Market March 27th 2020

That means that the market expects Neenah will outperform other companies in its industry. Shareholders are clearly optimistic, but the future is always uncertain. So further research is always essential. I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

When earnings fall, the 'E' decreases, over time. 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.

It's nice to see that Neenah grew EPS by a stonking 49% in the last year. In contrast, EPS has decreased by 4.2%, annually, over 5 years.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

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 Neenah's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Neenah has net debt equal to 29% of its market cap. While that's enough to warrant consideration, it doesn't really concern us.

The Verdict On Neenah's P/E Ratio

Neenah trades on a P/E ratio of 12.1, which is below the US market average of 13.4. The company hasn't stretched its balance sheet, and earnings growth was good last year. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Because analysts are predicting more growth in the future, one might have expected to see a higher P/E ratio. You can take a closer look at the fundamentals, here. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become significantly less optimistic about Neenah over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 18.7 back then to 12.1 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for a contrarian, it may signal opportunity.

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. So this free visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Neenah. 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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