Yahoo Finance A Rising Share Price Has Us Looking Closely At Hypoport SE's (ETR:HYQ) P/E Ratio
Hypoport (ETR:HYQ) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 40% gain, recovering from prior weakness. That brought the twelve month gain to a very sharp 77%.
Assuming no other changes, a sharply higher share price makes a stock less attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that deep value investors might steer clear when expectations of a company are too high. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.
Check out our latest analysis for Hypoport
Does Hypoport Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
Hypoport's P/E of 81.40 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. The image below shows that Hypoport has a significantly higher P/E than the average (22.3) P/E for companies in the diversified financial industry.
Its relatively high P/E ratio indicates that Hypoport shareholders think it will perform better than other companies in its industry classification. Shareholders are clearly optimistic, but the future is always uncertain. So investors should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.
Hypoport saw earnings per share improve by 6.5% last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 32%.
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. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. 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).
While growth expenditure doesn't always pay off, the point is that it is a good option to have; but one that the P/E ratio ignores.
How Does Hypoport's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?
Net debt totals just 3.7% of Hypoport's market cap. The market might award it a higher P/E ratio if it had net cash, but its unlikely this low level of net borrowing is having a big impact on the P/E multiple.
The Bottom Line On Hypoport's P/E Ratio
With a P/E ratio of 81.4, Hypoport is expected to grow earnings very strongly in the years to come. With debt at prudent levels and improving earnings, it's fair to say the market expects steady progress in the future. What we know for sure is that investors have become much more excited about Hypoport recently, since they have pushed its P/E ratio from 58.1 to 81.4 over the last month. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might mean it's time to put the stock on a watchlist, or research it. But the contrarian may see it as a missed opportunity.
Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. So this free visual report on analyst forecasts could hold the key to an excellent investment decision.
But note: Hypoport may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).
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.
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. Thank you for reading.
