After Leaping 26% Issuer Direct Corporation (NYSEMKT:ISDR) Shares Are Not Flying Under The Radar
Issuer Direct Corporation (NYSEMKT:ISDR) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 26% gain in the last month alone. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 92% in the last year.
After such a large jump in price, given close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 17x, you may consider Issuer Direct as a stock to avoid entirely with its 59.1x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Issuer Direct certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. The P/E is probably high because investors think the company will continue to navigate the broader market headwinds better than most. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.
View our latest analysis for Issuer Direct
Keen to find out how analysts think Issuer Direct's 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?
Issuer Direct's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.
If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 124%. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year EPS frustratingly shrank by 37% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the lone analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 54% over the next year. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 5.5%, which is noticeably less attractive.
With this information, we can see why Issuer Direct 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
The strong share price surge has got Issuer Direct's P/E rushing to great heights as well. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
We've established that Issuer Direct maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. 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 - Issuer Direct has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Issuer Direct. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that sit on P/E's below 20x and have grown earnings strongly.
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. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
