THOR Industries, Inc.'s (NYSE:THO) P/E Still Appears To Be Reasonable

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 22.4x THOR Industries, Inc. (NYSE:THO) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 16x and even P/E's lower than 9x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for THOR Industries as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

View our latest analysis for THOR Industries

Keen to find out how analysts think THOR Industries' future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

THOR Industries' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 71% decrease to the company's bottom line. This has soured the latest three-year period, which nevertheless managed to deliver a decent 5.7% overall rise in EPS. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the earnings growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 24% per annum as estimated by the twelve analysts watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 10% per year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why THOR Industries is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Final Word

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of THOR Industries' analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - THOR Industries has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on THOR Industries, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.