Further Upside For Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz (LON:KSPI) Shares Could Introduce Price Risks After 28% Bounce
Joint Stock Company Kaspi.kz (LON:KSPI) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 28% gain and recovering from prior weakness. But not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 50% in the last twelve months.
Although its price has surged higher, Kaspi.kz's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 10.3x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in the United Kingdom, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 15x and even P/E's above 28x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Recent times have been advantageous for Kaspi.kz as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.
Check out our latest analysis for Kaspi.kz
Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Kaspi.kz will help you uncover what's on the horizon.
What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?
In order to justify its P/E ratio, Kaspi.kz would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.
Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 55% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 229% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Shifting to the future, estimates from the five analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 24% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10% each year, which is noticeably less attractive.
In light of this, it's peculiar that Kaspi.kz's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.
The Final Word
Kaspi.kz's stock might have been given a solid boost, but its P/E certainly hasn't reached any great heights. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
We've established that Kaspi.kz currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is higher than the wider market. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the positive outlook. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.
Having said that, be aware Kaspi.kz is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit concerning.
It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20x).
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.
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