What Does Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ACHC) Share Price Indicate?

While Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHC) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the NASDAQGS. As a mid-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Today I will analyse the most recent data on Acadia Healthcare Company’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

Check out our latest analysis for Acadia Healthcare Company

Is Acadia Healthcare Company Still Cheap?

According to my price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. I’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 25.57x is currently trading in-line with its industry peers’ ratio, which means if you buy Acadia Healthcare Company today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that Acadia Healthcare Company’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Can we expect growth from Acadia Healthcare Company?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Acadia Healthcare Company's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 59%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? ACHC’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at ACHC? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on ACHC, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for ACHC, which means it’s worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Acadia Healthcare Company has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

If you are no longer interested in Acadia Healthcare Company, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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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.