Stock Analysis

There's No Escaping ACTIA Group S.A.'s (EPA:ALATI) Muted Earnings Despite A 27% Share Price Rise

ENXTPA:ALATI
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ACTIA Group S.A. (EPA:ALATI) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 27% share price jump in the last month. Longer-term shareholders would be thankful for the recovery in the share price since it's now virtually flat for the year after the recent bounce.

Even after such a large jump in price, ACTIA Group may still be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 5.2x, since almost half of all companies in France have P/E ratios greater than 17x and even P/E's higher than 31x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

ACTIA Group 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 degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

See our latest analysis for ACTIA Group

pe-multiple-vs-industry
ENXTPA:ALATI Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry July 18th 2025
If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on ACTIA Group.
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How Is ACTIA Group's Growth Trending?

ACTIA Group's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 75% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 43% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the dual analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 1.4% per annum over the next three years. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 13% each year, which paints a poor picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that ACTIA Group is trading at a P/E lower than the market. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

Even after such a strong price move, ACTIA Group's P/E still trails the rest of the market significantly. 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.

We've established that ACTIA Group maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for ACTIA Group you should know about.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than ACTIA Group. 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.

About ENXTPA:ALATI

ACTIA Group

ACTIA Group S.A. design, manufactures, and operates electronics for systems management in automotive, aeronautics, railway, home automation, telecommunication, energy, and healthcare sectors.

Proven track record with adequate balance sheet and pays a dividend.

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