Should You Sell Famur SA. (WSE:FMF) At This PE Ratio?
Famur SA. (WSE:FMF) trades with a trailing P/E of 72x, which is higher than the industry average of 14.1x. While this makes FMF 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. Today, I will explain what the P/E ratio is as well as what you should look out for when using it. View our latest analysis for Famur
Demystifying the P/E ratio
P/E is a popular ratio used for relative valuation. It compares a stock’s price per share to the stock’s earnings per share. A more intuitive way of understanding the P/E ratio is to think of it as how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.
P/E Calculation for FMF
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
FMF Price-Earnings Ratio = PLN6.04 ÷ PLN0.084 = 72x
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 FMF, such as capital structure and profitability. A quick method of creating a peer group is to use companies in the same industry, which is what I will do. FMF’s P/E of 72x is higher than its industry peers (14.1x), which implies that each dollar of FMF’s earnings is being overvalued by investors. As such, our analysis shows that FMF represents an over-priced stock.
Assumptions to be aware of
Before you jump to the conclusion that FMF should be banished from your portfolio, it is important to realise that our conclusion rests on two assertions. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to FMF, or else the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if you are comparing lower risk firms with FMF, then its P/E would naturally be lower than its peers, as investors would value those with lower risk at a higher price. The second assumption that must hold true is that the stocks we are comparing FMF to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold true, FMF’s lower P/E ratio may be because firms in our peer group are overvalued by the market.
What this means for you:
Since you may have already conducted your due diligence on FMF, the overvaluation of the stock may mean it is a good time to reduce your current holdings. But at the end of the day, keep in mind that relative valuation relies heavily on critical assumptions I’ve outlined 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 FMF’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for FMF’s outlook.
Past Track Record: Has FMF 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 FMF’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.
