Is It Too Late To Consider Buying Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (HKG:338)?
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (HKG:338), which is in the chemicals business, and is based in China, saw significant share price volatility over the past couple of months on the SEHK, rising to the highs of HK$5.34 and falling to the lows of HK$4.29. This high level of volatility gives investors the opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at an artificially low price. A question to answer is whether Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical’s current trading price of HK$4.55 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.
Check out our latest analysis for Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical
Is Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical still cheap?
The stock seems fairly valued at the moment according to my valuation model. It’s trading around 4.9% below my intrinsic value, which means if you buy Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical today, you’d be paying a fair price for it. And if you believe the company’s true value is HK$4.78, then there isn’t much room for the share price grow beyond what it’s currently trading. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical’s beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company’s shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity.
What does the future of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical look like?
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. 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. However, with an extremely negative double-digit change in profit expected over the next couple of years, near-term growth is certainly not a driver of a buy decision. It seems like high uncertainty is on the cards for Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, at least in the near future.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? Currently, 338 appears to be trading around its fair value, but given the uncertainty from negative returns in the future, this could be the right time to de-risk your portfolio. Is your current exposure to the stock optimal for your total portfolio? And is the opportunity cost of holding a negative-outlook stock too high? Before you make a decision on the stock, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on 338 for a while, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. The price seems to be trading at fair value, which means there’s less benefit from mispricing. In addition to this, the negative growth outlook increases the risk of holding the stock. However, there are also other important factors we haven’t considered today, which can help crystalize your views on 338 should the price fluctuate below its true value.
Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical. You can find everything you need to know about Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
To help readers see past 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. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
