With a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1.6x Dhunseri Investments Limited (NSE:DHUNINV) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all the Capital Markets companies in India have P/S ratios greater than 7x and even P/S higher than 25x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.
Check out our latest analysis for Dhunseri Investments
For instance, Dhunseri Investments' receding revenue in recent times would have to be some food for thought. It might be that many expect the disappointing revenue performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/S. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Dhunseri Investments will help you shine a light on its historical performance.In order to justify its P/S ratio, Dhunseri Investments would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the industry.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 33% decrease to the company's top line. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow revenue by an impressive 50% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would definitely welcome the medium-term rates of revenue growth.
This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 19% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.
With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why Dhunseri Investments' P/S falls short of the mark set by its industry peers. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.
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.
As we suspected, our examination of Dhunseri Investments revealed its three-year revenue trends are contributing to its low P/S, given they look worse than current industry expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price experience a reversal of fortunes anytime soon.
Before you take the next step, you should know about the 3 warning signs for Dhunseri Investments that we have uncovered.
If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).
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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.