At US$68.68, Is It Time To Put Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) On Your Watch List?

Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT). The company's stock saw a significant share price rise of 24% in the past couple of months on the NASDAQGS. The company is inching closer to its yearly highs following the recent share price climb. With many analysts covering the large-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? Today we will analyse the most recent data on Fortinet’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

View our latest analysis for Fortinet

What Is Fortinet Worth?

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 39.96x is currently trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 35.96x, which means if you buy Fortinet today, you’d be paying a relatively sensible price for it. And if you believe that Fortinet should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. In addition to this, it seems like Fortinet’s share price is quite stable, which could mean there may be less chances to buy low in the future now that it’s trading around the price multiples of other industry peers. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

What does the future of Fortinet 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. 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. Fortinet's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 35%, 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? FTNT’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 FTNT? 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 FTNT, 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 FTNT, 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.

Since timing is quite important when it comes to individual stock picking, it's worth taking a look at what those latest analysts forecasts are. At Simply Wall St, we have the analysts estimates which you can view by clicking here.

If you are no longer interested in Fortinet, 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.