When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 16x, you may consider Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE:BAH) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 33.5x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. It seems that many are expecting the company to continue defying the broader market adversity, which has increased investors' willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.
Keen to find out how analysts think Booz Allen Hamilton Holding's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.
How Is Booz Allen Hamilton Holding's Growth Trending?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like Booz Allen Hamilton Holding's to be considered reasonable.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 126% gain to the company's bottom line. As a result, it also grew EPS by 5.6% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.
Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 15% each year during the coming three years according to the twelve analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10% each year, which is noticeably less attractive.
With this information, we can see why Booz Allen Hamilton Holding is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.
What We Can Learn From Booz Allen Hamilton Holding's 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 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Booz Allen Hamilton Holding you should know about.
If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.
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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
当美国近一半的公司市盈率(或“P/E”)低于16倍时,您可以完全避免拥有将市盈率拉升至33.5倍的Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation(纽交所:BAH)的股票。但是,这种P / E可能相当高,需要进一步调查以判断其是否合理。
最近,Booz Allen Hamilton Holding确实做得不错,因为其盈利增长呈正向态势,而大多数其他公司的盈利则在倒退。似乎许多人都期望该公司继续抵御更广泛市场的逆境,这增加了投资者愿意为该股付出更多的意愿。如果不能,那么现有股东可能对股价的可行性有些紧张。
想知道分析师如何看待Booz Allen Hamilton Holding的未来与行业的比较?在这种情况下,我们的免费报告是一个很好的开始。
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding的增长趋势如何?
假设公司的市盈率要达到Booz Allen Hamilton Holding那样的水平,就必须远远超过市场的表现才能被认为是合理的。