Investors Interested In Thai Beverage Public Company Limited's (SGX:Y92) Earnings

It's not a stretch to say that Thai Beverage Public Company Limited's (SGX:Y92) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 12.4x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in Singapore, where the median P/E ratio is around 12x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/E without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

Thai Beverage has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is moderate because investors think the company's earnings trend will eventually fall in line with most others in the market. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

See our latest analysis for Thai Beverage

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Thai Beverage.

How Is Thai Beverage's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the market for P/E ratios like Thai Beverage's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 8.9%. This has soured the latest three-year period, which nevertheless managed to deliver a decent 21% overall rise in EPS. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the earnings growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 5.2% per annum over the next three years. That's shaping up to be similar to the 6.5% per year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Thai Beverage is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see average future growth and are only willing to pay a moderate amount for the stock.

What We Can Learn From Thai Beverage's P/E?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that Thai Beverage maintains its moderate P/E off the back of its forecast growth being in line with the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings won't throw up any surprises. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to support the share price at these levels.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Thai Beverage (1 is potentially serious!) that you need to take into consideration.

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.