With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 16.2x Life Healthcare Group Holdings Limited (JSE:LHC) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in South Africa have P/E ratios under 8x and even P/E's lower than 5x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.
Life Healthcare Group Holdings hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining earnings compare poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth on average. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think this poor earnings performance will turn the corner. If not, then existing shareholders may be extremely nervous about the viability of the share price.
Check out our latest analysis for Life Healthcare Group Holdings
Keen to find out how analysts think Life Healthcare Group Holdings' 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?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like Life Healthcare Group Holdings' to be considered reasonable.
If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 7.7%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 40% overall. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the six analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 21% per annum over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 7.5% per year growth forecast for the broader market.
In light of this, it's understandable that Life Healthcare Group Holdings' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.
What We Can Learn From Life Healthcare Group Holdings' P/E?
Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
We've established that Life Healthcare Group Holdings maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.
Having said that, be aware Life Healthcare Group Holdings is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.
If you're unsure about the strength of Life Healthcare Group Holdings' 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.
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