It's been a great afternoon session for Lowe's investors, who saw their shares rise 3.5% to a price of $260.83 per share. At these higher prices, is the company still fairly valued? If you are thinking about investing, make sure to check the company's fundamentals before making a decision.
Lowe's's Valuation Is in Line With Its Sector Averages:
Lowe's Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company belongs to the Consumer Discretionary sector, which has an average price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 22.96. In contrast, Lowe's has a trailing 12 month P/E ratio of 19.8 based on its earnings per share of $13.2.
There is an important limit on the usefulness of P/E ratios. Since the P/E ratio is the share price divided by earnings per share, the ratio is determined partially by market sentiment on the stock. Sometimes a negative sentiment translates to a lower market price and therefore a lower P/E ratio -- and there might be good reasons for this negative sentiment.
One of the main reasons not to blindly invest in a company with a low P/E ratio is that it might have low growth expectations. Low growth correlates with low stock performance, so it's useful to factor growth into the valuation process. One of the easiest ways to do this is to divide the company's P/E ratio by its expected growth rate, which results in the price to earnings growth, or PEG ratio.
Lowe's's PEG ratio is 3.97, which shows that the stock is overvalued in terms of its estimated growth. For reference, a PEG ratio near or below 1 is a potential signal that a company is undervalued.
The Firm Has a Highly Leveraged Balance Sheet:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (M) | $68,619 | $71,309 | $72,148 | $89,597 | $96,250 | $97,059 |
| Operating Margins | 10% | 6% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 10% |
| Net Margins | 5% | 3% | 6% | 7% | 9% | 7% |
| Net Income (M) | $3,447 | $2,314 | $4,281 | $5,835 | $8,442 | $6,437 |
| Net Interest Expense (M) | -$633 | -$624 | $21 | $20 | $26 | n/a |
| Depreciation & Amort. (M) | $1,404 | $1,477 | $1,262 | $1,399 | $1,662 | $1,981 |
| Diluted Shares (M) | 807 | 770 | 754 | 692 | 620 | 577 |
| Earnings Per Share | $4.09 | $2.84 | $5.49 | $7.75 | $12.04 | $10.17 |
| EPS Growth | n/a | -30.56% | 93.31% | 41.17% | 55.35% | -15.53% |
| Avg. Price | $88.3 | $99.35 | $128.86 | $194.71 | $205.24 | $260.31 |
| P/E Ratio | 21.59 | 34.98 | 23.47 | 25.06 | 17.0 | 25.6 |
| CAPEX (M) | $1,123 | $1,174 | $1,484 | $1,791 | $1,853 | $1,829 |
| EV / EBITDA | 12.67 | 19.89 | 16.76 | 16.12 | 13.77 | 18.31 |
| Total Debt (M) | $30,024 | $31,026 | $37,953 | $44,549 | $56,763 | $68,250 |
| Net Debt / EBITDA | 3.55 | 5.5 | 3.92 | 3.48 | 3.89 | 5.52 |
| Current Ratio | 1.0 | 1.04 | 1.38 | 1.19 | 1.2 | 1.21 |
