Investors Holding Back On Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG (ETR:WUW)

When close to half the companies in Germany have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG (ETR:WUW) as an attractive investment with its 10.2x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

Wüstenrot & Württembergische hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining earnings compare poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth on average. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to get any better. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

See our latest analysis for Wüstenrot & Württembergische

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

How Is Wüstenrot & Württembergische's Growth Trending?

Wüstenrot & Württembergische's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 52%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 57% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the lone analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 25% per annum over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 14% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that Wüstenrot & Württembergische is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Final Word

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

We've established that Wüstenrot & Württembergische currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is higher than the wider market. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the positive outlook. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 3 warning signs for Wüstenrot & Württembergische (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you need to be mindful of.

You might be able to find a better investment than Wüstenrot & Württembergische. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.