Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SHOO), is not the largest company out there, but it led the NASDAQGS gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. The recent jump in the share price has meant that the company is trading at close to its 52-week high. 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, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Today we will analyse the most recent data on Steven Madden's outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.

What's The Opportunity In Steven Madden?

According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. 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 Steven Madden's ratio of 19.49x is trading slightly above its industry peers' ratio of 19.33x, which means if you buy Steven Madden today, you'd be paying a relatively reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Steven Madden should be trading at this level in the long run, then there should only be a fairly immaterial downside vs other industry peers. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that Steven Madden'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 an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

Can we expect growth from Steven Madden?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. 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 46% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Steven Madden. 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? It seems like the market has already priced in SHOO's positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at SHOO? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping tabs on SHOO, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for SHOO, which means it's worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. For example - Steven Madden has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you are no longer interested in Steven Madden, 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.