Should You Be Tempted To Sell AssetCo plc (LON:ASTO) Because Of Its PE Ratio?

The content of this article will benefit those of you who are starting to educate yourself about investing in the stock market and want to learn about the link between company’s fundamentals and stock market performance.

AssetCo plc (LON:ASTO) is currently trading at a trailing P/E of 50.7, which is higher than the industry average of 22.3. While this might not seem positive, it is important to understand the assumptions behind the P/E ratio before you make any investment decisions. Today, I will explain what the P/E ratio is as well as what you should look out for when using it.

Check out our latest analysis for AssetCo

Breaking down the P/E ratio

The P/E ratio is one of many ratios used in relative valuation. By comparing a stock’s price per share to its earnings per share, we are able to see how much investors are paying for each pound of the company’s earnings.

The P/E ratio isn’t a metric you view in isolation and only becomes useful when you compare it against other similar companies. We preferably want to compare the stock’s P/E ratio to the average of companies that have similar features to ASTO, such as capital structure and profitability. A quick method of creating a peer group is to use companies in the same industry, which is what I will do. Since it is expected that similar companies have similar P/E ratios, we can come to some conclusions about the stock if the ratios are different.

ASTO’s P/E of 50.7 is higher than its industry peers (22.3), which implies that each dollar of ASTO’s earnings is being overvalued by investors. This multiple is a median of profitable companies of 24 Commercial Services companies in GB including Mortice, Communisis and Babcock International Group. You could also say that the market is suggesting that ASTO has a stronger business than the average comparable company.

A few caveats

Before you jump to conclusions it is important to realise that there are assumptions in this analysis. The first is that our “similar companies” are actually similar to ASTO. If not, the difference in P/E might be a result of other factors. For example, if AssetCo plc is growing faster than its peers, then it would deserve a higher P/E ratio. We should also be aware that the stocks we are comparing to ASTO may not be fairly valued. Just because it is trading on a higher P/E ratio than its peers does not mean it must be overvalued. After all, the peer group could be undervalued.

What this means for you:

Since you may have already conducted your due diligence on ASTO, the overvaluation of the stock may mean it is a good time to reduce your current holdings. But at the end of the day, keep in mind that relative valuation relies heavily on critical assumptions I've outlined above. Remember that basing your investment decision off one metric alone is certainly not sufficient. There are many things I have not taken into account in this article and the PE ratio is very one-dimensional. If you have not done so already, I urge you to complete your research by taking a look at the following:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ASTO’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ASTO’s outlook.
2. Past Track Record: Has ASTO been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of ASTO's historicals for more clarity.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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.