HM Inwest S.A.'s (WSE:HMI) 26% Dip In Price Shows Sentiment Is Matching Earnings

HM Inwest S.A. (WSE:HMI) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 26% share price drop in the last month. Looking at the bigger picture, even after this poor month the stock is up 36% in the last year.

After such a large drop in price, HM Inwest's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 9.2x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in Poland, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 12x and even P/E's above 22x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, HM Inwest has been doing very well. 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 HM Inwest

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

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the market for P/E ratios like HM Inwest's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 85%. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year EPS frustratingly shrank by 47% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to grow by 14% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term earnings decline into perspective.

With this information, we are not surprised that HM Inwest is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent earnings trends are already weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

The softening of HM Inwest's shares means its P/E is now sitting at a pretty low level. 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.

We've established that HM Inwest maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its sliding earnings over the medium-term, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

Plus, you should also learn about these 3 warning signs we've spotted with HM Inwest (including 2 which are significant).

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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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.