【skybell doorbell flashing red and green】Don't Sell Air Canada (TSE:AC) Before You Read This

Theskybell doorbell flashing red and green goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll apply a basic P/E ratio analysis to Air Canada's (

TSE:AC

), to help you decide if the stock is worth further research. Based on the last twelve months,

Air Canada's P/E ratio is 11.93

. That means that at current prices, buyers pay CA$11.93 for every CA$1 in trailing yearly profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Air Canada

How Do I Calculate Air Canada's Price To Earnings Ratio?

The

formula for price to earnings

is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price ÷ Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Air Canada:

P/E of 11.93 = CA$48.51 ÷ CA$4.07 (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.)

Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?

The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That isn't a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the business's prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E.

How Does Air Canada's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

The P/E ratio essentially measures market expectations of a company. The image below shows that Air Canada has a higher P/E than the average (10.9) P/E for companies in the airlines industry.

TSX:AC Price Estimation Relative to Market, January 1st 2020

That means that the market expects Air Canada will outperform other companies in its industry. Shareholders are clearly optimistic, but the future is always uncertain. 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

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Earnings growth means that in the future the 'E' will be higher. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. And as that P/E ratio drops, the company will look cheap, unless its share price increases.

Air Canada's earnings made like a rocket, taking off 175% last year. The sweetener is that the annual five year growth rate of 43% is also impressive. With that kind of growth rate we would generally expect a high P/E ratio.

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

One drawback of using a P/E ratio is that it considers market capitalization, but not the balance sheet. So it won't reflect the advantage of cash, or disadvantage of debt. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

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.

Story continues

Is Debt Impacting Air Canada's P/E?

Net debt totals just 0.9% of Air Canada's market cap. So it doesn't have as many options as it would with net cash, but its debt would not have much of an impact on its P/E ratio.

The Bottom Line On Air Canada's P/E Ratio

Air Canada's P/E is 11.9 which is below average (15.9) in the CA market. The company does have a little debt, and EPS growth was good last year. If it continues to grow, then the current low P/E may prove to be unjustified. Given analysts are expecting further growth, one might have expected a higher P/E ratio.

That may be worth further research

.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. 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

[email protected]

. 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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