Systematix Corporate Services Limited (NSE:SYSTMTXC) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 30% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. Longer-term shareholders will rue the drop in the share price, since it's now virtually flat for the year after a promising few quarters.
Although its price has dipped substantially, given around half the companies in India have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 25x, you may still consider Systematix Services as a stock to potentially avoid with its 32.1x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
For example, consider that Systematix Services' financial performance has been poor lately as its earnings have been in decline. It might be that many expect the company to still outplay most other companies over the coming period, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be quite nervous about the viability of the share price.
See our latest analysis for Systematix Services
The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as high as Systematix Services' is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 37% decrease to the company's bottom line. Even so, admirably EPS has lifted 495% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the earnings growth recently has been more than adequate for the company.
This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 25% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.
With this information, we can see why Systematix Services is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Presumably shareholders aren't keen to offload something they believe will continue to outmanoeuvre the bourse.
There's still some solid strength behind Systematix Services' P/E, if not its share price lately. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
As we suspected, our examination of Systematix Services revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its high P/E, given they look better than current market expectations. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
Plus, you should also learn about these 3 warning signs we've spotted with Systematix Services (including 1 which is potentially serious).
If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Systematix Services, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.
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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.