With a price-to-earnings (or “P/E”) ratio of 72.4x Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 18x and even P/E’s lower than 10x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we’d need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.
Ares Management has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.
See our latest analysis for Ares Management
If you’d like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Ares Management.
Does Growth Match The High P/E?
Ares Management’s P/E ratio would be typical for a company that’s expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.
Taking a look back first, the company’s earnings per share growth last year wasn’t something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 25%. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 26% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 62% each year during the coming three years according to the nine analysts following the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 13% each year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.
In light of this, it’s understandable that Ares Management’s P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.
What We Can Learn From Ares Management’s P/E?
The price-to-earnings ratio’s power isn’t primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.
As we suspected, our examination of Ares Management’s analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn’t great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It’s hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.
There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we’ve discovered 4 warning signs for Ares Management (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Ares Management. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that sit on P/E’s below 20x and have grown earnings strongly.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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