At UK£4.07, Is PageGroup plc (LON:PAGE) Worth Looking At Closely?

While PageGroup plc (LON:PAGE) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the LSE. As a stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Let’s examine PageGroup’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

See our latest analysis for PageGroup

Is PageGroup Still Cheap?

Good news, investors! PageGroup is still a bargain right now according to my price multiple model, which compares the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. 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 PageGroup’s ratio of 12.78x is below its peer average of 17.95x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Professional Services industry. What’s more interesting is that, PageGroup’s share price is quite volatile, which gives us more chances to buy since the share price could sink lower (or rise higher) in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

Can we expect growth from PageGroup?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. 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. Though in the case of PageGroup, it is expected to deliver a relatively unexciting earnings growth of 5.1%, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. Growth doesn’t appear to be a main reason for a buy decision for the company, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Even though growth is relatively muted, since PAGE is currently trading below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on PAGE for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its future profit outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy PAGE. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed investment decision.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for PageGroup and you'll want to know about these.

If you are no longer interested in PageGroup, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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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.