Should You Be Tempted To Buy Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) Because Of Its PE Ratio?
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) is trading with a trailing P/E of 12.5x, which is lower than the industry average of 14.1x. While this makes LPX appear like a great stock to buy, you might change your mind after I explain the assumptions behind the P/E ratio. In this article, I will explain what the P/E ratio is as well as what you should look out for when using it. Check out our latest analysis for Louisiana-Pacific
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 LPX
Price-Earnings Ratio = Price per share ÷ Earnings per share
LPX Price-Earnings Ratio = $26.26 ÷ $2.101 = 12.5x
The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. We want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar characteristics as LPX, 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. LPX’s P/E of 12.5x is lower than its industry peers (14.1x), which implies that each dollar of LPX’s earnings is being undervalued by investors. Therefore, according to this analysis, LPX is an under-priced stock.
Assumptions to watch out for
While our conclusion might prompt you to buy LPX immediately, there are two important assumptions you should be aware of. Firstly, our peer group contains companies that are similar to LPX. 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 LPX, 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 LPX to are fairly valued by the market. If this does not hold true, LPX’s lower P/E ratio may be because firms in our peer group are overvalued by the market.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? You may have already conducted fundamental analysis on the stock as a shareholder, so its current undervaluation could signal a good buying opportunity to increase your exposure to LPX. Now that you understand the ins and outs of the PE metric, you should know to bear in mind its limitations before you make an investment decision.
Are you a potential investor? If LPX has been on your watch list for a while, it is best you also consider its intrinsic valuation. Looking at PE on its own will not give you the full picture of the stock as an investment, so I suggest you should also look at other relative valuation metrics like EV/EBITDA or PEG.
PE is one aspect of your portfolio construction to consider when holding or entering into a stock. But it is certainly not the only factor. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on Louisiana-Pacific for a more in-depth analysis of the stock to help you make a well-informed investment decision. Since we know a limitation of PE is it doesn’t properly account for growth, you can use our free platform to see my list of stocks with a high growth potential and see if their PE is still reasonable.
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.
