Is Now An Opportune Moment To Examine Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC)?

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the NASDAQGS. Shareholders may appreciate the recent price jump, but the company still has a way to go before reaching its yearly highs again. 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, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let’s take a look at Henry Schein’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

See our latest analysis for Henry Schein

What's The Opportunity In Henry Schein?

According to our 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. We’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 25.33x is currently trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 23.92x, which means if you buy Henry Schein today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Henry Schein should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. Furthermore, it seems like Henry Schein’s share price is quite stable, which means there may be less chances to buy low in the future now that it’s priced similarly to industry peers. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

What does the future of Henry Schein look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. 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. Henry Schein's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 75%, 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? HSIC’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 track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at HSIC? 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 an eye on HSIC, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for HSIC, 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.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that Henry Schein has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

If you are no longer interested in Henry Schein, 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.