Should We Worry About Hubbell Incorporated’s (NYSE:HUBB) P/E Ratio?
This article is written for those who want to get better at using price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We’ll show how you can use Hubbell Incorporated’s (NYSE:HUBB) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Hubbell has a price to earnings ratio of 19.52, based on the last twelve months. In other words, at today’s prices, investors are paying $19.52 for every $1 in prior year profit.
See our latest analysis for Hubbell
How Do I Calculate A Price To Earnings Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for Hubbell:
P/E of 19.52 = $104.1 ÷ $5.33 (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2018.)
Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio means that buyers have to pay a higher price for each $1 the company has earned over the last year. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Companies that shrink earnings per share quickly will rapidly decrease the ‘E’ in the equation. That means unless the share price falls, the P/E will increase in a few years. Then, a higher P/E might scare off shareholders, pushing the share price down.
Hubbell increased earnings per share by 2.5% last year. But earnings per share are down 2.8% per year over the last five years.
How Does Hubbell’s P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
We can get an indication of market expectations by looking at the P/E ratio. The image below shows that Hubbell has a higher P/E than the average (14.8) P/E for companies in the electrical industry.
Hubbell’s P/E tells us that market participants think the company will perform better than its industry peers, going forward. Shareholders are clearly optimistic, but the future is always uncertain. So further research is always essential. I often monitor director buying and selling.
Remember: P/E Ratios Don’t Consider The Balance Sheet
Don’t forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.
Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.
How Does Hubbell’s Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?
Hubbell has net debt worth 30% of its market capitalization. This is a reasonably significant level of debt — all else being equal you’d expect a much lower P/E than if it had net cash.
The Bottom Line On Hubbell’s P/E Ratio
Hubbell trades on a P/E ratio of 19.5, which is above the US market average of 17.1. With debt at prudent levels and improving earnings, it’s fair to say the market expects steady progress in the future.
Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, ‘In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.’ So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold they key to an excellent investment decision.
You might be able to find a better buy than Hubbell. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).
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.
