Yahoo Finance When Should You Buy Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK)?
Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK), is not the largest company out there, but it received a lot of attention from a substantial price increase on the NYSE over the last few months. As a well-established company, which tends to be well-covered by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Let’s examine Shutterstock’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.
Check out our latest analysis for Shutterstock
What is Shutterstock worth?
Shutterstock is currently expensive based on my price multiple model, where I look at the company's price-to-earnings ratio in comparison to the industry average. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 64.62x is currently well-above the industry average of 30.66x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. If you like the stock, you may want to keep an eye out for a potential price decline in the future. Since Shutterstock’s share price is quite volatile, this could mean it can sink lower (or rise even further) in the future, giving us another chance to invest. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
What kind of growth will Shutterstock generate?
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 profit expected to more than double over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Shutterstock. 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? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in SSTK’s positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe SSTK should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio 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 an eye on SSTK for a while, 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 SSTK, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
If you want to dive deeper into Shutterstock, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Shutterstock.
If you are no longer interested in Shutterstock, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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