SL Corporation's (KRX:005850) Low P/E No Reason For Excitement

When close to half the companies in Korea have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 12x, you may consider SL Corporation (KRX:005850) as a highly attractive investment with its 3.7x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

SL certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. 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.

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What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 36% last year. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 156% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the five analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 4.5% over the next year. With the market predicted to deliver 32% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why SL is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Final Word

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

As we suspected, our examination of SL's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

The company's balance sheet is another key area for risk analysis. Our free balance sheet analysis for SL with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on SL, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.