Slammed 30% China Primary Energy Holdings Limited (HKG:8117) Screens Well Here But There Might Be A Catch

The China Primary Energy Holdings Limited (HKG:8117) share price has softened a substantial 30% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. Looking back over the past twelve months the stock has been a solid performer regardless, with a gain of 24%.

Although its price has dipped substantially, you could still be forgiven for feeling indifferent about China Primary Energy Holdings' P/S ratio of 0.3x, since the median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio for the Gas Utilities industry in Hong Kong is also close to 0.4x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/S ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

Check out our latest analysis for China Primary Energy Holdings

How Has China Primary Energy Holdings Performed Recently?

China Primary Energy Holdings has been doing a decent job lately as it's been growing revenue at a reasonable pace. Perhaps the expectation moving forward is that the revenue growth will track in line with the wider industry for the near term, which has kept the P/S subdued. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Is There Some Revenue Growth Forecasted For China Primary Energy Holdings?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like China Primary Energy Holdings' to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow revenues by a handy 3.9% last year. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 77% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 5.1% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's curious that China Primary Energy Holdings' P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

What Does China Primary Energy Holdings' P/S Mean For Investors?

China Primary Energy Holdings' plummeting stock price has brought its P/S back to a similar region as the rest of the industry. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that China Primary Energy Holdings currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. There could be some unobserved threats to revenue preventing the P/S ratio from matching this positive performance. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term revenue trends continue, but investors seem to think future revenue could see some volatility.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for China Primary Energy Holdings you should know about.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.