Many Still Looking Away From Pkp Cargo S.A. (WSE:PKP)

When close to half the companies in Poland have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 13x, you may consider Pkp Cargo S.A. (WSE:PKP) as an attractive investment with its 8.1x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/E.

While the market has experienced earnings growth lately, Pkp Cargo's earnings have gone into reverse gear, which is not great. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to get any better. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

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Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

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

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 45%. This has erased any of its gains during the last three years, with practically no change in EPS being achieved in total. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 73% during the coming year according to the dual analysts following the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 7.5%, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we find it odd that Pkp Cargo is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Key Takeaway

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.

We've established that Pkp Cargo currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is higher than the wider market. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the positive outlook. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Pkp Cargo that you need to be mindful of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Pkp Cargo. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.