IWG plc (LON:IWG) Might Not Be As Mispriced As It Looks

With a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x IWG plc (LON:IWG) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all the Real Estate companies in the United Kingdom have P/S ratios greater than 3.8x and even P/S higher than 8x 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/S.

See our latest analysis for IWG

How Has IWG Performed Recently?

IWG could be doing better as it's been growing revenue less than most other companies lately. It seems that many are expecting the uninspiring revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the growth of the P/S ratio. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on IWG will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

IWG's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling revenue, and importantly, perform much worse than the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 7.5%. The solid recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 22% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of revenue growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the seven analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 8.3% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to only expand by 0.4% per year, which is noticeably less attractive.

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

The Bottom Line On IWG's P/S

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

A look at IWG's revenues reveals that, despite glowing future growth forecasts, its P/S is much lower than we'd expect. When we see strong growth forecasts like this, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/S ratio. At least price risks look to be very low, but investors seem to think future revenues could see a lot of volatility.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. You can assess many of the main risks through our free balance sheet analysis for IWG with six simple checks.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on IWG, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.