Is It Too Late To Consider Buying Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD)?

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Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD), which is in the commercial services business, and is based in United States, saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. As a small cap stock, hardly covered by any analysts, there is generally more of an opportunity for mispricing as there is less activity to push the stock closer to fair value. Is there still an opportunity here to buy? Let’s take a look at Quad/Graphics’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

View our latest analysis for Quad/Graphics

What is Quad/Graphics worth?

According to my relative valuation model, the stock is currently overvalued. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Quad/Graphics’s ratio of 73.12x is above its peer average of 20.58x, which suggests the stock is overvalued compared to the Commercial Services industry. If you like the stock, you may want to keep an eye out for a potential price decline in the future. Given that Quad/Graphics’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Can we expect growth from Quad/Graphics?

NYSE:QUAD Past and Future Earnings, April 8th 2019
NYSE:QUAD Past and Future Earnings, April 8th 2019

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With revenues expected to grow by 83% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Quad/Graphics. If the level of expenses is able to be maintained, it looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? QUAD’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading above its fair value. At this current price, shareholders may be asking a different question – should I sell? If you believe QUAD should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on QUAD for some time, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for QUAD, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on Quad/Graphics. You can find everything you need to know about Quad/Graphics in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Quad/Graphics, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.

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