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What Is Cue Energy Resources's (ASX:CUE) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Rocketed?

Cue Energy Resources (ASX:CUE) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 33% gain, recovering from prior weakness. That brought the twelve month gain to a very sharp 62%.

Assuming no other changes, a sharply higher share price makes a stock less attractive to potential buyers. In the long term, share prices tend to follow earnings per share, but in the short term prices bounce around in response to short term factors (which are not always obvious). So some would prefer to hold off buying when there is a lot of optimism towards a stock. Perhaps the simplest way to get a read on investors' expectations of a business is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

Check out our latest analysis for Cue Energy Resources

How Does Cue Energy Resources's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

Cue Energy Resources's P/E of 13.62 indicates some degree of optimism towards the stock. The image below shows that Cue Energy Resources has a higher P/E than the average (7.2) P/E for companies in the oil and gas industry.

ASX:CUE Price Estimation Relative to Market May 28th 2020
ASX:CUE Price Estimation Relative to Market May 28th 2020

Its relatively high P/E ratio indicates that Cue Energy Resources shareholders think it will perform better than other companies in its industry classification. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So investors should always consider the P/E ratio alongside other factors, such as whether company directors have been buying shares.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Cue Energy Resources saw earnings per share decrease by 40% last year. And over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have decreased 17% annually. This growth rate might warrant a below average P/E ratio.

A Limitation: P/E Ratios Ignore Debt and Cash In The Bank

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

So What Does Cue Energy Resources's Balance Sheet Tell Us?

With net cash of AU$17m, Cue Energy Resources has a very strong balance sheet, which may be important for its business. Having said that, at 25% of its market capitalization the cash hoard would contribute towards a higher P/E ratio.

The Verdict On Cue Energy Resources's P/E Ratio

Cue Energy Resources trades on a P/E ratio of 13.6, which is below the AU market average of 15.2. Falling earnings per share are likely to be keeping potential buyers away, the relatively strong balance sheet will allow the company time to invest in growth. If it achieves that, then there's real potential that the low P/E could eventually indicate undervaluation. What is very clear is that the market has become more optimistic about Cue Energy Resources over the last month, with the P/E ratio rising from 10.2 back then to 13.6 today. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might mean it's time to put the stock on a watchlist, or research it. But the contrarian may see it as a missed opportunity.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. Although we don't have analyst forecasts you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Cue Energy Resources. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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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. Thank you for reading.