Schneider National, Inc. (NYSE:SNDR), is not the largest company out there, but it saw a decent share price growth of 12% on the NYSE over the last few months. While good news for shareholders, the company has traded much higher in the past year. With many analysts covering the mid-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock's share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let's examine Schneider National's valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there's still a bargain opportunity.

What's The Opportunity In Schneider National?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to our price multiple model, where we compare 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 Schneider National's ratio of 25.62x is trading slightly above its industry peers' ratio of 24.94x, which means if you buy Schneider National today, you'd be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Schneider National should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. Furthermore, Schneider National's share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. This may mean it is less likely for the stock to fall lower from natural market volatility, which suggests less opportunities to buy moving forward.

Can we expect growth from Schneider National?

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. Though in the case of Schneider National, it is expected to deliver a relatively unexciting earnings growth of 9.0%, which doesn't help build up its investment thesis. Growth doesn't appear to be a main reason for a buy decision for Schneider National, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? SNDR's future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at SNDR? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on SNDR, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive growth outlook may mean it's worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that Schneider National has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

If you are no longer interested in Schneider National, 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com