Investors Holding Back On Starteck Finance Limited (NSE:STARTECK)

When close to half the companies in India have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 21x, you may consider Starteck Finance Limited (NSE:STARTECK) as an attractive investment with its 10.9x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

For example, consider that Starteck Finance's financial performance has been poor lately as it's earnings have been in decline. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming 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 Starteck Finance

Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Starteck Finance will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Starteck Finance's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 64%. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 5,257% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Comparing that to the market, which is only predicted to deliver 22% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Starteck Finance's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Bottom Line On Starteck Finance's P/E

While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

We've established that Starteck Finance currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. When we see strong earnings with faster-than-market growth, we assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/E ratio. 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.

Having said that, be aware Starteck Finance is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Starteck Finance. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that sit on P/E's below 20x 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.