Today we’re going to take a look at the well-established Continental Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:CON). The company’s stock led the XTRA gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. The company’s trading levels have reached its high for the past year, following the recent bounce in the share price. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Let’s examine Continental’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.
Check out our latest analysis for Continental
Is Continental Still Cheap?
Continental is currently expensive based on our price multiple model, where we look at the company’s price-to-earnings ratio in comparison to the industry average. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 12.95x is currently well-above the industry average of 9.86x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. If you like the stock, you may want to keep an eye out for a potential price decline in the future. Since Continental’s share price is quite volatile, this could mean it can sink lower (or rise even further) in the future, giving us another chance to invest. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
What kind of growth will Continental generate?
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company’s future expectations. With profit expected to more than double over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Continental. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in CON’s positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question – is now the right time to sell? If you believe CON should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on CON for some time, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the positive outlook is encouraging for CON, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
If you want to dive deeper into Continental, you’d also look into what risks it is currently facing. For example, we’ve discovered 3 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Continental.
If you are no longer interested in Continental, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.