Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE:HY), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a significant share price rise of 65% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. The company's trading levels have reached its high for the past year, following the recent bounce in the share price. Less-covered, small caps tend to present more of an opportunity for mispricing due to the lack of information available to the public, which can be a good thing. So, could the stock still be trading at a low price relative to its actual value? Let's examine Hyster-Yale Materials Handling's valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there's still a bargain opportunity.

What's The Opportunity In Hyster-Yale Materials Handling?

Good news, investors! Hyster-Yale Materials Handling is still a bargain right now according to our price multiple model, which compares the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, we've used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock's cash flows. we find that Hyster-Yale Materials Handling's ratio of 11.46x is below its peer average of 22.76x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Machinery industry. However, given that Hyster-Yale Materials Handling's share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

What does the future of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it's the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 34% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Hyster-Yale Materials Handling. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Since HY is currently trading below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic profit outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on HY for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its prosperous future profit outlook isn't fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it's not too late to buy HY. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the track record of its management team, in order to make a well-informed investment decision.

With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Hyster-Yale Materials Handling you should know about.

If you are no longer interested in Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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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.