At €3.76, Is Ascopiave S.p.A. (BIT:ASC) Worth Looking At Closely?

Ascopiave S.p.A. (BIT:ASC), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the BIT. Less-covered, small caps sees more of an opportunity for mispricing due to the lack of information available to the public, which can be a good thing. So, could the stock still be trading at a low price relative to its actual value? Let’s take a look at Ascopiave’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

View our latest analysis for Ascopiave

Is Ascopiave still cheap?

Ascopiave is currently expensive based on my price multiple model, where I look at the company's price-to-earnings ratio in comparison to the industry average. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Ascopiave’s ratio of 22.46x is above its peer average of 12.98x, which suggests the stock is trading at a higher price compared to the Gas Utilities industry. In addition to this, it seems like Ascopiave’s share price is quite stable, which could mean two things: firstly, it may take the share price a while to fall back down to an attractive buying range, and secondly, there may be less chances to buy low in the future once it reaches that value. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

What kind of growth will Ascopiave generate?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 28% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Ascopiave. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in ASC’s positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe ASC should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on ASC for some time, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for ASC, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

So while earnings quality is important, it's equally important to consider the risks facing Ascopiave at this point in time. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Ascopiave and you'll want to know about it.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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