Oceanus Group Limited (SGX:579) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 29% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 25% in the last twelve months.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that Oceanus Group's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.7x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Food industry in Singapore, seeing as it matches the P/S ratio of the wider industry. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

What Does Oceanus Group's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Oceanus Group certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing its revenue at a really rapid pace. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to taper off, which has kept the P/S from rising. Those who are bullish on Oceanus Group will be hoping that this isn't the case, so that they can pick up the stock at a lower valuation.

How Is Oceanus Group's Revenue Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, Oceanus Group would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 48%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 276% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

Comparing that recent medium-term revenue trajectory with the industry's one-year growth forecast of 5.3% shows it's noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we find it interesting that Oceanus Group is trading at a fairly similar P/S compared to the industry. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

What We Can Learn From Oceanus Group's P/S?

Oceanus Group's stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/S level with the rest of the industry. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We didn't quite envision Oceanus Group's P/S sitting in line with the wider industry, considering the revenue growth over the last three-year is higher than the current industry outlook. When we see strong revenue with faster-than-industry growth, we can only assume potential risks are what might be placing pressure on the P/S ratio. It appears some are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 2 warning signs for Oceanus Group that we have uncovered.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.