Frontier Transport Holdings Limited's (JSE:FTH) Subdued P/E Might Signal An Opportunity

When close to half the companies in South Africa have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 11x, you may consider Frontier Transport Holdings Limited (JSE:FTH) as an attractive investment with its 5.4x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Frontier Transport Holdings certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing earnings at a really rapid pace. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

Check out our latest analysis for Frontier Transport Holdings

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Frontier Transport Holdings, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Frontier Transport Holdings would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 40%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 89% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 18% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Frontier Transport Holdings' P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Final Word

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

Our examination of Frontier Transport Holdings revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't contributing to its P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current market expectations. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching this positive performance. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term earnings trends continue, but investors seem to think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for Frontier Transport Holdings (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you need to be mindful of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Frontier Transport Holdings. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.