In: Finance
What is a P/E ratio, and why is it important in stock valuation? Choose a company stock, and discuss its P/E ratio. Do you believe the P/E ratio provides an accurate assessment of the company’s performance?
P/E ratio is the ratio of price per share divided by | |||||||
earnings per share for any stock. | |||||||
The most common use of the P/E ratio is to compare | |||||||
a stock with comparable companies of the same industry. | |||||||
For example, when analysts want to know if a company is undervalued | |||||||
or overvalued the analysts use the P/E ratio. | |||||||
The analysts draw out a list of companies that are comparable and belong to any | |||||||
one given industry. Investors and analysts can pick undervalued stocks and go long | |||||||
or they can short sell stocks that are overvalued. | |||||||
The following are the P/E ratios for the stocks of the big three automobile companies | |||||||
in the United States | |||||||
Ford Motor company | 13.29 | ||||||
General Motors | 6.23 | ||||||
Fiat Chrysler | 5.87 | ||||||
Based on the P/E ratios, Fiat Chrysler is the most undervalued stocks | |||||||
when compared to other two automobile companies. | |||||||
Ford motor company is the most overvalued stock. | |||||||
The P/E ratio is a good measure of a given company's relative value | |||||||
when compared to other comparable companies in the industry. | |||||||
However, there are other kinds of ratios like profitability ratios, leverage ratios, and liquidity | |||||||
ratios that are used to measure a company's performance. |