Sata Construction Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:1826) Popularity With Investors Is Clear

Sata Construction Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:1826) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 34.1x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Japan, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 13x and even P/E's below 9x 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.

The earnings growth achieved at Sata Construction over the last year would be more than acceptable for most companies. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors’ willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Sata Construction

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Sata Construction, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Sata Construction's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as Sata Construction's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 24% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 58% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Comparing that to the market, which is only predicted to deliver 11% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

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

The Key Takeaway

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

As we suspected, our examination of Sata Construction revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its high P/E, given they look better than current market expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Sata Construction (1 is a bit concerning!) that you need to take into consideration.

If you're unsure about the strength of Sata Construction's 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.