There Is A Reason Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A.'s (ATH:MOH) Price Is Undemanding

Simply Wall St · 5d ago

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A.'s (ATH:MOH) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 6.6x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in Greece, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 15x and even P/E's above 25x are quite common. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. 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.

See our latest analysis for Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries

pe-multiple-vs-industry
ATSE:MOH Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry January 5th 2026
If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries.

Is There Any Growth For Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 66% gain to the company's bottom line. Despite this strong recent growth, it's still struggling to catch up as its three-year EPS frustratingly shrank by 48% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to slump, contracting by 4.3% per annum during the coming three years according to the six analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 7.2% per year, which paints a poor picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries is trading at a P/E lower than the market. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries' 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 is also worth noting that we have found 4 warning signs for Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries (1 is potentially serious!) that you need to take into consideration.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.