Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group Limited (HKG:556) Stocks Shoot Up 30% But Its P/S Still Looks Reasonable

Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group Limited (HKG:556) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 30% gain in the last month alone. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 66%.

Following the firm bounce in price, you could be forgiven for thinking Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group is a stock to steer clear of with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 3.5x, considering almost half the companies in Hong Kong's Commercial Services industry have P/S ratios below 0.4x. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/S.

View our latest analysis for Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group

How Has Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group Performed Recently?

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group as its revenue has been rising very briskly. The P/S ratio is probably high because investors think this strong revenue growth will be enough to outperform the broader industry in the near future. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The High P/S Ratio?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 42% gain to the company's top line. The latest three year period has also seen an incredible overall rise in revenue, aided by its incredible short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a tremendous job of growing revenue over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 7.4% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group is trading at such a high P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are expecting this strong growth to continue and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

Shares in Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group have seen a strong upwards swing lately, which has really helped boost its P/S figure. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

We've established that Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group maintains its high P/S on the strength of its recent three-year growth being higher than the wider industry forecast, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/S as they are quite confident revenue aren't under threat. Unless the recent medium-term conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Pan Asia Environmental Protection Group (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com