Sentiment Still Eluding Aurangabad Distillery Limited (NSE:AURDIS)

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 9.4x Aurangabad Distillery Limited (NSE:AURDIS) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in India have P/E ratios greater than 30x and even P/E's higher than 55x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Aurangabad Distillery as its earnings have been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. 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 Aurangabad Distillery

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

How Is Aurangabad Distillery's Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Aurangabad Distillery would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 85% gain to the company's bottom line. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 2,189% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 24% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we find it odd that Aurangabad Distillery 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

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Our examination of Aurangabad Distillery revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't contributing to its P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current market expectations. 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. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Aurangabad Distillery that you need to take into consideration.

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.