Is It Too Late To Consider Buying Absolute Software Corporation (TSE:ABT)?

Absolute Software Corporation (TSE:ABT), which is in the software business, and is based in Canada, saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the TSX. With many analysts covering the stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Today I will analyse the most recent data on Absolute Software’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

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What's the opportunity in Absolute Software?

According to my relative valuation model, the stock seems to be currently fairly priced. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Absolute Software’s ratio of 55.36x is trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 52.96x, which means if you buy Absolute Software today, you’d be paying a relatively fair price for it. And if you believe Absolute Software should be trading in this range, then there isn’t really any room for the share price grow beyond what it’s currently trading. Furthermore, it seems like Absolute Software’s share price is quite stable, which means there may be less chances to buy low in the future now that it’s fairly valued. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

Can we expect growth from Absolute Software?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. However, with a relatively muted profit growth of 7.9% expected over the next year, growth doesn’t seem like a key driver for a buy decision for Absolute Software, at least in the short term.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? ABT’s future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at ABT? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the true value?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on ABT, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the positive growth outlook may mean it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on Absolute Software. You can find everything you need to know about Absolute Software in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Absolute Software, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.