When Should You Buy RM plc (LON:RM.)?

RM plc (LON:RM.), is not the largest company out there, but it led the LSE gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. Less-covered, small caps tend to present more of an opportunity for mispricing due to the lack of information available to the public, which can be a good thing. So, could the stock still be trading at a low price relative to its actual value? Let’s examine RM’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

Check out our latest analysis for RM

What's the opportunity in RM?

Great news for investors – RM is still trading at a fairly cheap price according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 11.62x is currently well-below the industry average of 30.76x, meaning that it is trading at a cheaper price relative to its peers. However, given that RM’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Can we expect growth from RM?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. RM's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 23%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Since RM. is currently trading below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic profit outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on RM. for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its buoyant future profit outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy RM.. 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 assessment.

With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. While conducting our analysis, we found that RM has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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