What Is Penn National Gaming's (NASDAQ:PENN) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked?

Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) share price has dived 30% in the last thirty days. Looking back further, the stock is up 2.8% in the last year.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business 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.

View our latest analysis for Penn National Gaming

How Does Penn National Gaming's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Penn National Gaming's P/E of 63.02 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. The image below shows that Penn National Gaming has a significantly higher P/E than the average (19.4) P/E for companies in the hospitality industry.

Penn National Gaming's P/E tells us that market participants think the company will perform better than its industry peers, going forward. 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

When earnings fall, the 'E' decreases, over time. That means even if the current P/E is low, it will increase over time if the share price stays flat. Then, a higher P/E might scare off shareholders, pushing the share price down.

Penn National Gaming saw earnings per share decrease by 61% last year. And over the longer term (3 years) earnings per share have decreased 32% annually. This could justify a low P/E.

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

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. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

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).

So What Does Penn National Gaming's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Penn National Gaming has net debt worth 70% of its market capitalization. This is enough debt that you'd have to make some adjustments before using the P/E ratio to compare it to a company with net cash.

The Verdict On Penn National Gaming's P/E Ratio

Penn National Gaming's P/E is 63.0 which suggests the market is more focussed on the future opportunity rather than the current level of earnings. With meaningful debt and a lack of recent earnings growth, the market has high expectations that the business will earn more in the future. Given Penn National Gaming's P/E ratio has declined from 90.5 to 63.0 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is significantly less confident about the business today, than it was back then. For those who don't like to trade against momentum, that could be a warning sign, but a contrarian investor might want to take a closer look.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. 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 visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.

But note: Penn National Gaming 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.

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