A Sliding Share Price Has Us Looking At BW Offshore Limiteds (OB:BWO) P/E Ratio – Simply Wall St

Unfortunately for some shareholders, the BW Offshore (OB:BWO) share price has dived 32% in the last thirty days. Even longer term holders have taken a real hit with the stock declining 3.6% in the last year.

All else being equal, a share price drop should make a stock more attractive to potential investors. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. 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). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for BW Offshore

BW Offshores P/E is 9.37. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (9.8) for companies in the energy services industry is roughly the same as BW Offshores P/E.

BW Offshores P/E tells us that market participants think its prospects are roughly in line with its industry. The company could surprise by performing better than average, in the future. Checking factors such as director buying and selling. could help you form your own view on if that will happen.

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. When earnings grow, the E increases, over time. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. A lower P/E should indicate the stock is cheap relative to others and that may attract buyers.

BW Offshore increased earnings per share by an impressive 24% over the last twelve months. But earnings per share are down 50% per year over the last five years.

One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. That means it doesnt take debt or cash into account. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

BW Offshore has net debt worth a very significant 103% of its market capitalization. This is a relatively high level of debt, so the stock probably deserves a relatively low P/E ratio. Keep that in mind when comparing it to other companies.

BW Offshore trades on a P/E ratio of 9.4, which is below the NO market average of 14.5. The company may have significant debt, but EPS growth was good last year. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low. Given BW Offshores P/E ratio has declined from 13.8 to 9.4 in the last month, we know for sure that the market is more worried about the business today, than it was back then. For those who prefer to invest with the flow of momentum, that might be a bad sign, but for deep value investors this stock might justify some research.

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. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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A Sliding Share Price Has Us Looking At BW Offshore Limiteds (OB:BWO) P/E Ratio - Simply Wall St