Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) Looks Inexpensive After Falling 26% But Perhaps Not Attractive Enough
Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) Looks Inexpensive After Falling 26% But Perhaps Not Attractive Enough
Crawford & Company (NYSE:CRD.B) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 26% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. Looking at the bigger picture, even after this poor month the stock is up 51% in the last year.
In spite of the heavy fall in price, it would still be understandable if you think Crawford is a stock with good investment prospects with a price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") of 0.3x, considering almost half the companies in the United States' Insurance industry have P/S ratios above 1.1x. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.
What Does Crawford's Recent Performance Look Like?
Recent times haven't been great for Crawford as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could 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 Crawford will help you uncover what's on the horizon.How Is Crawford's Revenue Growth Trending?
The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Crawford's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.
If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 11%. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 34% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the three analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 3.5% over the next year. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 6.8%, which is noticeably more attractive.
With this information, we can see why Crawford is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.
What Does Crawford's P/S Mean For Investors?
The southerly movements of Crawford's shares means its P/S is now sitting at a pretty low level. Using the price-to-sales 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 Crawford maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider industry, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Crawford (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of.
If you're unsure about the strength of Crawford's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.
克勞福德公司(紐約證券交易所代碼:CRD.B)股東們不會很高興看到股價經歷了一個非常艱難的月份,下跌了26%,抵消了前一時期的積極表現。從大局來看,即使在經歷了這個糟糕的月份之後,該股去年仍上漲了51%。
儘管價格大幅下跌,但考慮到美國保險業將近一半公司的市盈率高於1.1倍,如果你認爲克勞福德是一隻具有良好投資前景的股票,其市銷率(或 “市盈率”)爲0.3倍,那還是可以理解的。但是,僅按面值計算市銷率是不明智的,因爲可以解釋其有限的原因。
克勞福德最近的表現是什麼樣子?
最近對克勞福德來說並不好,因爲其收入的增長速度比大多數其他公司都要慢。也許市場預計當前收入增長不佳的趨勢將繼續下去,這使市銷售率一直受到抑制。如果你仍然喜歡這家公司,你希望收入不會惡化,也希望在股票失寵的時候買入一些股票。
想全面了解分析師對公司的估計嗎?然後,我們關於克勞福德的免費報告將幫助您發現即將發生的事情。克勞福德的收入增長趨勢如何?
只有當公司的增長有望落後於該行業時,你才能真正放心地看到像克勞福德一樣低的市銷率。
如果我們回顧一下去年的收入增長,該公司公佈了11%的可觀增長。令人高興的是,總收入也比三年前增長了34%,這在一定程度上要歸功於過去12個月的增長。因此,我們可以首先確認該公司在此期間在增加收入方面做得很好。
展望未來,報道該公司的三位分析師的估計表明,明年收入將增長3.5%。同時,該行業的其他部門預計將增長6.8%,這明顯更具吸引力。
有了這些信息,我們可以了解克勞福德的市銷率爲何低於該行業。顯然,許多股東不願堅持下去,而該公司可能正在考慮不那麼繁榮的未來。
克勞福德的市銷率對投資者意味着什麼?
克勞福德股價向南走勢意味着其市銷率目前處於相當低的水平。僅使用市銷率來確定是否應該出售股票是不明智的,但它可以作爲公司未來前景的實用指南。
我們已經確定,克勞福德維持較低的市銷率,原因是其預期的增長低於整個行業,正如預期的那樣。目前,股東們正在接受低市銷率,因爲他們承認未來的收入可能不會帶來任何驚喜。除非這些條件有所改善,否則它們將繼續構成股價在這些水平附近的障礙。
在你確定自己的意見之前,我們已經發現了克勞福德的 3 個警告信號(1 個讓我們有點不舒服!)你應該注意的。
如果您不確定克勞福德的業務實力,爲什麼不瀏覽我們的互動式股票清單,其中列出了一些您可能錯過的其他公司,這些股票具有穩健的業務基本面。
對這篇文章有反饋嗎?對內容感到擔憂?直接聯繫我們。 或者,給編輯團隊 (at) simplywallst.com 發送電子郵件。
Simply Wall St的這篇文章本質上是籠統的。我們僅使用公正的方法根據歷史數據和分析師的預測提供評論,我們的文章無意作爲財務建議。它不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議,也沒有考慮到您的目標或財務狀況。我們的目標是爲您提供由基本數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。簡而言之,華爾街沒有持有任何上述股票的頭寸。
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。
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