Yahoo Finance Here’s What Enghouse Systems Limited’s (TSE:ENGH) P/E Ratio Is Telling Us
This article is for investors who would like to improve their understanding of price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, we’ll show how Enghouse Systems Limited’s (TSE:ENGH) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Enghouse Systems has a price to earnings ratio of 36.47, based on the last twelve months. In other words, at today’s prices, investors are paying CA$36.47 for every CA$1 in prior year profit.
See our latest analysis for Enghouse Systems
How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?
The formula for P/E is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for Enghouse Systems:
P/E of 36.47 = CA$38.83 ÷ CA$1.06 (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 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 CA$1 the company has earned over the last year. All else being equal, it’s better to pay a low price — but as Warren Buffett said, ‘It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.’
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. When earnings grow, the ‘E’ increases, over time. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.
Enghouse Systems increased earnings per share by an impressive 13% over the last twelve months. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 17%. With that performance, you might expect an above average P/E ratio.
How Does Enghouse Systems’s P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?
The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. If you look at the image below, you can see Enghouse Systems has a lower P/E than the average (48.1) in the software industry classification.
This suggests that market participants think Enghouse Systems will underperform other companies in its industry. While current expectations are low, the stock could be undervalued if the situation is better than the market assumes. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
Remember: P/E Ratios Don’t Consider The Balance Sheet
The ‘Price’ in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.
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.
Is Debt Impacting Enghouse Systems’s P/E?
Enghouse Systems has net cash of CA$192m. That should lead to a higher P/E than if it did have debt, because its strong balance sheets gives it more options.
The Verdict On Enghouse Systems’s P/E Ratio
Enghouse Systems has a P/E of 36.5. That’s higher than the average in the CA market, which is 14.9. Its net cash position supports a higher P/E ratio, as does its solid recent earnings growth. Therefore it seems reasonable that the market would have relatively high expectations of the company
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 visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.
You might be able to find a better buy than Enghouse Systems. 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).
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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.
