With Frontage Holdings Corporation (HKG:1521) It Looks Like You'll Get What You Pay For

Frontage Holdings Corporation's (HKG:1521) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 34.7x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 9x and even P/E's below 4x are quite common. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Frontage Holdings has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

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Keen to find out how analysts think Frontage Holdings' future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like Frontage Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 22% decrease to the company's bottom line. This has soured the latest three-year period, which nevertheless managed to deliver a decent 27% overall rise in EPS. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 24% per year as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 16% per annum, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Frontage Holdings is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

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.

As we suspected, our examination of Frontage Holdings' analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for Frontage Holdings you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of Frontage Holdings' business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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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.