Unfortunately for some shareholders, the EC Healthcare (HKG:2138) share price has dived 29% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 76% share price decline.
After such a large drop in price, considering around half the companies operating in Hong Kong's Consumer Services industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.3x, you may consider EC Healthcare as an solid investment opportunity with its 0.5x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
See our latest analysis for EC Healthcare
What Does EC Healthcare's P/S Mean For Shareholders?
With revenue growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, EC Healthcare has been relatively sluggish. The P/S ratio is probably low because investors think this lacklustre revenue performance isn't going to get any better. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.
How Is EC Healthcare's Revenue Growth Trending?
There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like EC Healthcare's to be considered reasonable.
If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 22%. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow revenue by 152% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the six analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 17% over the next year. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 19%, which is noticeably more attractive.
With this in consideration, its clear as to why EC Healthcare's P/S is falling short industry peers. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.
What Does EC Healthcare's P/S Mean For Investors?
EC Healthcare's P/S has taken a dip along with its share price. Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.
As we suspected, our examination of EC Healthcare's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior revenue outlook is contributing to its low P/S. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for EC Healthcare with six simple checks on some of these key factors.
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.
