Slammed 26% Banco Products (India) Limited (NSE:BANCOINDIA) Screens Well Here But There Might Be A Catch

Banco Products (India) Limited (NSE:BANCOINDIA) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 26% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. To make matters worse, the recent drop has wiped out a year's worth of gains with the share price now back where it started a year ago.

Although its price has dipped substantially, Banco Products (India)'s price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 16.4x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in India, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 29x and even P/E's above 55x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Earnings have risen firmly for Banco Products (India) recently, which is pleasing to see. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this respectable earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

View our latest analysis for Banco Products (India)

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 Banco Products (India)'s earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

Banco Products (India)'s P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 20% last year. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 135% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 26% shows it's noticeably more attractive on an annualised basis.

With this information, we find it odd that Banco Products (India) is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Final Word

Banco Products (India)'s recently weak share price has pulled its P/E below most other companies. It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We've established that Banco Products (India) currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching this positive performance. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term earnings trends continue, but investors seem to think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Banco Products (India) (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you need to take into consideration.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Banco Products (India). 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.