Is Pioneer Natural Resources Company’s (NYSE:PXD) PE Ratio A Signal To Sell For Investors?
Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) trades with a trailing P/E of 31x, which is higher than the industry average of 14.2x. While this makes PXD appear like a stock to avoid or sell if you own it, you might change your mind after I explain the assumptions behind the P/E ratio. In this article, I will break down what the P/E ratio is, how to interpret it and what to watch out for. View our latest analysis for Pioneer Natural Resources
Demystifying the P/E ratio
P/E is often used for relative valuation since earnings power is a chief driver of investment value. 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 PXD
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
PXD Price-Earnings Ratio = $190.65 ÷ $6.153 = 31x
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 want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar characteristics as PXD, such as size and country of operation. A quick method of creating a peer group is to use companies in the same industry, which is what I will do. Since PXD’s P/E of 31x is higher than its industry peers (14.2x), it means that investors are paying more than they should for each dollar of PXD’s earnings. As such, our analysis shows that PXD represents an over-priced stock.
Assumptions to watch out for
While our conclusion might prompt you to sell your PXD shares immediately, there are two important assumptions you should be aware of. Firstly, our peer group contains companies that are similar to PXD. If this isn’t the case, the difference in P/E could be due to other factors. For example, if you compared higher growth firms with PXD, then its P/E would naturally be lower since investors would reward its peers’ higher growth with a higher price. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing PXD to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold, there is a possibility that PXD’s P/E is lower because our peer group is 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 PXD. 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 urge you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for PXD’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for PXD’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has PXD 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 PXD’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.
