Optimistic Investors Push Brisanet Participações S.A. (BVMF:BRIT3) Shares Up 26% But Growth Is Lacking

Brisanet Participações S.A. (BVMF:BRIT3) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 26% gain and recovering from prior weakness. The last month tops off a massive increase of 131% in the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, you could still be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Brisanet Participações' P/E ratio of 11.7x, since the median price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio in Brazil is also close to 10x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/E ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

Brisanet Participações certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to wane, which has kept the P/E from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

See our latest analysis for Brisanet Participações

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Brisanet Participações.

Does Growth Match The P/E?

The only time you'd be comfortable seeing a P/E like Brisanet Participações' is when the company's growth is tracking the market closely.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 170% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 317% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should bring diminished returns, with earnings decreasing 11% as estimated by the four analysts watching the company. With the market predicted to deliver 21% growth , that's a disappointing outcome.

With this information, we find it concerning that Brisanet Participações is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as these declining earnings are likely to weigh on the share price eventually.

The Final Word

Brisanet Participações appears to be back in favour with a solid price jump getting its P/E back in line with most other companies. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Our examination of Brisanet Participações' analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings isn't impacting its P/E as much as we would have predicted. When we see a poor outlook with earnings heading backwards, we suspect share price is at risk of declining, sending the moderate P/E lower. Unless these conditions improve, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Brisanet Participações that you need to take into consideration.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.