SSE plc (LON:SSE) Could Be Riskier Than It Looks

Explore SSE's Fair Values from the Community and select yours

It's not a stretch to say that SSE plc's (LON:SSE) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 17.1x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in the United Kingdom, where the median P/E ratio is around 16x. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/E.

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While the market has experienced earnings growth lately, SSE's earnings have gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It might be that many expect the dour earnings performance to strengthen positively, which has kept the P/E from falling. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a relatively elevated price for a company with this sort of growth profile.

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How Is SSE's Growth Trending?

SSE's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 31%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk EPS by 55% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 23% each year over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 15% per annum growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's curious that SSE's P/E sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are skeptical of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Final Word

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

We've established that SSE currently trades on a lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is higher than the wider market. There could be some unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the positive outlook. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future earnings could see some volatility.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for SSE that you need to be mindful of.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.