Getinge AB (publ)'s (STO:GETI B) Price In Tune With Earnings

When close to half the companies in Sweden have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 22x, you may consider Getinge AB (publ) (STO:GETI B) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 27.5x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Getinge could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. It might be that many expect the dour earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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How Is Getinge's Growth Trending?

Getinge's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 25%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 49% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the nine analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 31% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 22% per year, which is noticeably less attractive.

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

The Final Word

While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Getinge's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Getinge you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Getinge, 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.