At US$5.30, Is It Time To Put Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) On Your Watch List?

Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. As a 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? Let’s take a look at Diana Shipping’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

Check out our latest analysis for Diana Shipping

What's the opportunity in Diana Shipping?

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 Diana Shipping’s ratio of 8.59x is trading slightly above its industry peers’ ratio of 4.62x, which means if you buy Diana Shipping today, you’d be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Diana Shipping 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 Diana Shipping’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.

Can we expect growth from Diana Shipping?

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. Diana Shipping's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 79%, 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? DSX’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 DSX? 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 tabs on DSX, 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 DSX, 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Diana Shipping you should be mindful of and 1 of them is concerning.

If you are no longer interested in Diana Shipping, 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.