Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!
The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll look at ManTech International Corporation's (NASDAQ:MANT) P/E ratio and reflect on what it tells us about the company's share price. What is ManTech International's P/E ratio? Well, based on the last twelve months it is 30.02. In other words, at today's prices, investors are paying $30.02 for every $1 in prior year profit.
See our latest analysis for ManTech International
How Do You Calculate A P/E Ratio?
The formula for price to earnings is:
Price to Earnings Ratio = Price per Share ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)
Or for ManTech International:
P/E of 30.02 = $63.01 ÷ $2.1 (Based on the year to March 2019.)
Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?
A higher P/E ratio implies that investors pay a higher price for the earning power of the business. All else being equal, it's better to pay a low price -- but as Warren Buffett said, 'It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.'
How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios
Probably the most important factor in determining what P/E a company trades on is the earnings growth. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.
ManTech International shrunk earnings per share by 31% over the last year. But it has grown its earnings per share by 14% per year over the last three years.
Does ManTech International Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?
The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (32.5) for companies in the it industry is higher than ManTech International's P/E.
ManTech International's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Many investors like to buy stocks when the market is pessimistic about their prospects. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.
Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits
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.