Chesapeake Energy Corporation's (NASDAQ:CHK) Business And Shares Still Trailing The Market

When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 15x, you may consider Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CHK) as a highly attractive investment with its 4.5x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

Chesapeake Energy could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to get any better. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Chesapeake Energy

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If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Chesapeake Energy.

How Is Chesapeake Energy's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like Chesapeake Energy's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 66%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 68% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to slump, contracting by 12% per annum during the coming three years according to the six analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 9.5% growth each year, that's a disappointing outcome.

In light of this, it's understandable that Chesapeake Energy's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

The Key Takeaway

It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Chesapeake Energy's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Chesapeake Energy you should know about.

You might be able to find a better investment than Chesapeake Energy. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20x (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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