Yahoo Finance Read This Before You Buy Spark New Zealand Limited (NZSE:SPK) Because Of Its P/E Ratio
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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 Spark New Zealand Limited's (NZSE:SPK) P/E ratio could help you assess the value on offer. Based on the last twelve months, Spark New Zealand's P/E ratio is 18.98. That corresponds to an earnings yield of approximately 5.3%.
View our latest analysis for Spark New Zealand
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 Spark New Zealand:
P/E of 18.98 = NZ$3.89 ÷ NZ$0.20 (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.)
Is A High P/E Ratio Good?
The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That isn't a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the business's prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E.
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
When earnings fall, the 'E' decreases, over time. That means unless the share price falls, the P/E will increase in a few years. Then, a higher P/E might scare off shareholders, pushing the share price down.
Spark New Zealand shrunk earnings per share by 6.5% last year. But EPS is up 8.7% over the last 5 years.
Does Spark New Zealand Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. The image below shows that Spark New Zealand has a lower P/E than the average (28.1) P/E for companies in the telecom industry.
This suggests that market participants think Spark New Zealand will underperform other companies in its industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.
A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank
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. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.
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 Spark New Zealand's P/E?
Spark New Zealand has net debt worth 19% of its market capitalization. This could bring some additional risk, and reduce the number of investment options for management; worth remembering if you compare its P/E to businesses without debt.
The Bottom Line On Spark New Zealand's P/E Ratio
Spark New Zealand's P/E is 19 which is about average (17.9) in the NZ market. Given it has some debt, but didn't grow last year, the P/E indicates the market is expecting higher profits ahead for the business.
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.
But note: Spark New Zealand 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).
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.
