With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 7.4x Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios greater than 17x and even P/E's higher than 32x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.
Cheniere Energy has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to improve at all. If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions. Or at the very least, you'd be hoping the earnings slide doesn't get any worse if your plan is to pick up some stock while it's out of favour.
Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Cheniere Energy will help you uncover what's on the horizon.
Is There Any Growth For Cheniere Energy?
The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as depressed as Cheniere Energy's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market decidedly.
If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 33%. This has erased any of its gains during the last three years, with practically no change in EPS being achieved in total. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the eleven analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 17% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 9.9% each year, which paints a poor picture.
In light of this, it's understandable that Cheniere Energy's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.
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.
We've established that Cheniere Energy maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
You need to take note of risks, for example - Cheniere Energy has 2 warning signs (and 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) we think you should know about.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.
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創業板股票 Cheniere Energy, Inc. (紐交所:LNG) 目前的市盈率爲7.4倍,這很可能表示出極爲積極的信號,因爲美國近一半的公司的市盈率超過17倍,甚至有不少公司市盈率超過32倍也很常見。當然,並不明智以市盈率作爲唯一判斷的標準,因爲這種低市盈率背後可能有其他的原因。