Shenzhen HeungKong Holding Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600162) Not Doing Enough For Some Investors As Its Shares Slump 25%

Shenzhen HeungKong Holding Co.,Ltd (SHSE:600162) shares have retraced a considerable 25% in the last month, reversing a fair amount of their solid recent performance. To make matters worse, the recent drop has wiped out a year's worth of gains with the share price now back where it started a year ago.

Although its price has dipped substantially, Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd may still be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.4x, considering almost half of all companies in the Real Estate industry in China have P/S ratios greater than 2.2x and even P/S higher than 6x aren't out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

View our latest analysis for Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd

What Does Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd's Recent Performance Look Like?

For example, consider that Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd'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. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the industry.

Taking a look back first, the company's revenue growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 29%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 41% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 13% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term revenue results is a sobering picture.

With this in mind, we understand why Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd's P/S is lower than most of its industry peers. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. There's potential for the P/S to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its top-line growth.

The Final Word

Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd's P/S has taken a dip along with its share price. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

As we suspected, our examination of Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd revealed its shrinking revenue over the medium-term is contributing to its low P/S, given the industry is set to grow. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises either. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 4 warning signs for Shenzhen HeungKong HoldingLtd (2 can't be ignored!) that we have uncovered.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.