Is Now An Opportune Moment To Examine Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX)?

While Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE:LPX) might not be the most widely known stock at the moment, it led the NYSE gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. With many analysts covering the mid-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let’s examine Louisiana-Pacific’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

See our latest analysis for Louisiana-Pacific

What Is Louisiana-Pacific Worth?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Louisiana-Pacific’s ratio of 3.96x is trading in-line with its industry peers’ ratio, which means if you buy Louisiana-Pacific today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Louisiana-Pacific’s share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What kind of growth will Louisiana-Pacific generate?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. Though in the case of Louisiana-Pacific, it is expected to deliver a highly negative earnings growth in the next few years, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Currently, LPX appears to be trading around industry price multiples, but given the uncertainty from negative returns in the future, this could be the right time to reduce the risk in your portfolio. Is your current exposure to the stock beneficial for your total portfolio? And is the opportunity cost of holding a negative-outlook stock too high? Before you make a decision on LPX, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on LPX for a while, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. This means there’s less benefit from mispricing. In addition to this, the negative growth outlook increases the risk of holding the stock. However, there are also other important factors we haven’t considered today, which can help gel your views on LPX should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio.

So while earnings quality is important, it's equally important to consider the risks facing Louisiana-Pacific at this point in time. Be aware that Louisiana-Pacific is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis and 2 of those are significant...

If you are no longer interested in Louisiana-Pacific, 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.