Yahoo Finance Here's How P/E Ratios Can Help Us Understand HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE:HFC)
The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). To keep it practical, we'll show how HollyFrontier Corporation's (NYSE:HFC) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Looking at earnings over the last twelve months, HollyFrontier has a P/E ratio of 9.48. That means that at current prices, buyers pay $9.48 for every $1 in trailing yearly profits.
Check out our latest analysis for HollyFrontier
How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for HollyFrontier:
P/E of 9.48 = $51.38 ÷ $5.42 (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)
Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying a higher price for each $1 of company earnings. That is not a good or a bad thing per se, but a high P/E does imply buyers are optimistic about the future.
Does HollyFrontier Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
One good way to get a quick read on what market participants expect of a company is to look at its P/E ratio. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (9.9) for companies in the oil and gas industry is roughly the same as HollyFrontier's P/E.
That indicates that the market expects HollyFrontier will perform roughly in line with other companies in its industry. So if HollyFrontier actually outperforms its peers going forward, that should be a positive for the share price. Checking factors such as director buying and selling. could help you form your own view on if that will happen.
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. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others -- and that may attract buyers.
HollyFrontier saw earnings per share decrease by 32% last year. But EPS is up 18% over the last 5 years.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).
Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).
Is Debt Impacting HollyFrontier's P/E?
Net debt totals 18% of HollyFrontier's market cap. That's enough debt to impact the P/E ratio a little; so keep it in mind if you're comparing it to companies without debt.
The Verdict On HollyFrontier's P/E Ratio
HollyFrontier's P/E is 9.5 which is below average (18.2) in the US market. Since it only carries a modest debt load, it's likely the low expectations implied by the P/E ratio arise from the lack of recent earnings growth.
Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.
You might be able to find a better buy than HollyFrontier. 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).
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
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.
