Why World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) Could Be Worth Watching

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the NYSE over the last few months. 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 examine World Wrestling Entertainment’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

See our latest analysis for World Wrestling Entertainment

Is World Wrestling Entertainment still cheap?

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 World Wrestling Entertainment’s ratio of 31.64x is trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 27.43x, which means if you buy World Wrestling Entertainment today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe that World Wrestling Entertainment should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because World Wrestling Entertainment’s beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company’s shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity.

Can we expect growth from World Wrestling Entertainment?

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. 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. World Wrestling Entertainment's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 88%, 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? WWE’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 WWE? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on WWE, 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 WWE, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. While conducting our analysis, we found that World Wrestling Entertainment has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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

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.

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