It's A Story Of Risk Vs Reward With Pieridae Energy Limited (TSE:PEA)

You may think that with a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x Pieridae Energy Limited (TSE:PEA) is a stock worth checking out, seeing as almost half of all the Oil and Gas companies in Canada have P/S ratios greater than 2.2x and even P/S higher than 6x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

View our latest analysis for Pieridae Energy

What Does Pieridae Energy's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

For example, consider that Pieridae Energy's financial performance has been poor lately as its revenue has been in decline. Perhaps the market believes the recent revenue performance isn't good enough to keep up the industry, causing the P/S ratio to suffer. 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 out of favour.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Pieridae Energy's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Pieridae Energy's Revenue Growth Trending?

Pieridae Energy's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 17% decrease to the company's top line. Even so, admirably revenue has lifted 43% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the revenue growth recently has been more than adequate for the company.

Comparing that to the industry, which is only predicted to deliver 10% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

With this information, we find it odd that Pieridae Energy is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Final Word

It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We're very surprised to see Pieridae Energy currently trading on a much lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we assume there are some significant underlying risks to the company's ability to make money which is applying downwards pressure on the P/S ratio. While recent revenue trends over the past medium-term suggest that the risk of a price decline is low, investors appear to perceive a likelihood of revenue fluctuations in the future.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 4 warning signs for Pieridae Energy you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.