Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 34% after a shaky period beforehand. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 17% in the last twelve months.
Although its price has surged higher, Cross Country Healthcare's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 13.8x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 19x and even P/E's above 34x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Cross Country Healthcare has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. If not, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.
NasdaqGS:CCRN Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry August 1st 2024 If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Cross Country Healthcare.
How Is Cross Country Healthcare's Growth Trending?
Cross Country Healthcare's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.
Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 69%. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 457% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the nine analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 6.1% per year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 10% per year, which paints a poor picture.
In light of this, it's understandable that Cross Country Healthcare's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.
What We Can Learn From Cross Country Healthcare's P/E?
The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Cross Country Healthcare's P/E close to the market median. We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.
As we suspected, our examination of Cross Country Healthcare's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Cross Country Healthcare (at least 1 which is a bit unpleasant), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.
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Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (纳斯达克:CCRN)股票在此前动荡期后经历了一个令人印象深刻的月份,上涨了34%。股价在过去12个月中仍然下跌了17%,并非所有股东都会感到欣慰。
尽管股价上涨,但Cross Country Healthcare的市盈率(或“P / E”)为13.8倍,与美国市场上约一半的公司的市盈率高于19倍,甚至很常见的34倍相比,看起来仍然是一项购买。但是,P / E可能出现低迷的原因,需要进一步调查才能确定是否合理。
Cross Country Healthcare近来一直在苦苦挣扎,其盈利下降速度比大多数其他公司要快。许多人似乎期望着糟糕的盈利表现会持续下去,这已经压制了市盈率。如果您仍然相信该业务,最好是公司不会出现亏损。如果不相信,那么现有股东可能很难对股价的未来方向感到兴奋。
NasdaqGS:CCRN市盈率与行业板块对比于2024年8月1日 如果您想了解分析师预测的未来情况,可以查看我们针对Cross Country Healthcare的免费报告。
Cross Country Healthcare的增长趋势如何?
Cross Country Healthcare的市盈率对于一个预计提供有限增长,且重要的是表现不如市场的公司而言,可以说是典型的。