What Is Datang Environment Industry Group's (HKG:1272) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked?

To the annoyance of some shareholders, Datang Environment Industry Group (HKG:1272) shares are down a considerable 35% in the last month. Indeed the recent decline has arguably caused some bitterness for shareholders who have held through the 57% drop over twelve months.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

Check out our latest analysis for Datang Environment Industry Group

How Does Datang Environment Industry Group's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Datang Environment Industry Group's P/E is 9.67. As you can see below Datang Environment Industry Group has a P/E ratio that is fairly close for the average for the commercial services industry, which is 10.4.

That indicates that the market expects Datang Environment Industry Group will perform roughly in line with other companies in its industry. If the company has better than average prospects, then the market might be underestimating it. I would further inform my view by checking insider buying and selling., among other things.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

If earnings fall then in the future the 'E' will be lower. That means even if the current P/E is low, it will increase over time if the share price stays flat. So while a stock may look cheap based on past earnings, it could be expensive based on future earnings.

Datang Environment Industry Group shrunk earnings per share by 71% over the last year. And over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have decreased 29% annually. This could justify a pessimistic P/E.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

Is Debt Impacting Datang Environment Industry Group's P/E?

Datang Environment Industry Group's net debt is considerable, at 242% of its market cap. This level of debt justifies a relatively low P/E, so remain cognizant of the debt, if you're comparing it to other stocks.

The Verdict On Datang Environment Industry Group's P/E Ratio

Datang Environment Industry Group's P/E is 9.7 which is about average (9.1) in the HK market. With meaningful debt, and no earnings per share growth last year, even an average P/E indicates that the market a significant improvement from the business. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become more pessimistic about Datang Environment Industry Group over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 14.9 back then to 9.7 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. Although we don't have analyst forecasts you could get a better understanding of its growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Datang Environment Industry Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.