Getting In Cheap On Nisshin Seifun Group Inc. (TSE:2002) Is Unlikely

Simply Wall St · 10/14 21:31

With a median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of close to 0.6x in the Food industry in Japan, you could be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Nisshin Seifun Group Inc.'s (TSE:2002) P/S ratio, which comes in at about the same. 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.

View our latest analysis for Nisshin Seifun Group

ps-multiple-vs-industry
TSE:2002 Price to Sales Ratio vs Industry October 14th 2024

How Nisshin Seifun Group Has Been Performing

Recent revenue growth for Nisshin Seifun Group has been in line with the industry. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to show no drastic signs of changing, justifying the P/S being at current levels. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this can at least be maintained so that you could pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Nisshin Seifun Group.

How Is Nisshin Seifun Group's Revenue Growth Trending?

Nisshin Seifun Group's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 5.7% last year. Revenue has also lifted 28% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing revenue over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the four analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 1.1% per year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 3.8% each year, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this in mind, we find it intriguing that Nisshin Seifun Group's P/S is closely matching its industry peers. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

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

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

When you consider that Nisshin Seifun Group's revenue growth estimates are fairly muted compared to the broader industry, it's easy to see why we consider it unexpected to be trading at its current P/S ratio. At present, we aren't confident in the P/S as the predicted future revenues aren't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. A positive change is needed in order to justify the current price-to-sales ratio.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Our free balance sheet analysis for Nisshin Seifun Group with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So if growing profitability aligns with your idea of a great company, take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).