How Does PJSC Russian Aquaculture's (MCX:AQUA) P/E Compare To Its Industry, After Its Big Share Price Gain?

PJSC Russian Aquaculture (MCX:AQUA) shares have continued recent momentum with a 41% gain in the last month alone. Zooming out, the annual gain of 126% knocks our socks off.

All else being equal, a sharp share price increase should make a stock less attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that deep value investors might steer clear when expectations of a company are too high. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

Check out our latest analysis for PJSC Russian Aquaculture

How Does PJSC Russian Aquaculture's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

PJSC Russian Aquaculture's P/E of 9.33 indicates relatively low sentiment towards the stock. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (18.3) for companies in the food industry is higher than PJSC Russian Aquaculture's P/E.

PJSC Russian Aquaculture's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. It is arguably worth checking if insiders are buying shares, because that might imply they believe the stock is undervalued.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. And in that case, the P/E ratio itself will drop rather quickly. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

In the last year, PJSC Russian Aquaculture grew EPS like Taylor Swift grew her fan base back in 2010; the 474% gain was both fast and well deserved. The cherry on top is that the five year growth rate was an impressive 293% per year. With that kind of growth rate we would generally expect a high P/E ratio.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

So What Does PJSC Russian Aquaculture's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

Net debt totals 11% of PJSC Russian Aquaculture's market cap. This could bring some additional risk, and reduce the number of investment options for management; worth remembering if you compare its P/E to businesses without debt.

The Verdict On PJSC Russian Aquaculture's P/E Ratio

PJSC Russian Aquaculture has a P/E of 9.3. That's around the same as the average in the RU market, which is 8.7. Given it has reasonable debt levels, and grew earnings strongly last year, the P/E indicates the market has doubts this growth can be sustained. What we know for sure is that investors are becoming less uncomfortable about PJSC Russian Aquaculture's prospects, since they have pushed its P/E ratio from 6.6 to 9.3 over the last month. If you like to buy stocks that could be turnaround opportunities, then this one might be a candidate; but if you're more sensitive to price, then you may feel the opportunity has passed.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. People often underestimate remarkable growth -- so investors can make money when fast growth is not fully appreciated. We don't have analyst forecasts, but you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

But note: PJSC Russian Aquaculture may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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.