Starting your stock analysis? Here are the best financial ratios to watch

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A treasure trove of fundamental info.

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You’re eyeing a stock that trades at $250. Is that an attractive price? It’s hard to tell by just looking at the quote. That’s where financial ratios—the stock’s price relative to company earnings, cash flow, book value, and more—come in handy.

On the surface, a stock’s price is just a number. But behind that price may be several shiny nuggets that can help you unearth some useful information:

Analysts apply several valuation tools, some of which can involve complex math formulas, to derive a stock’s value. If you’re new to fundamental stock analysis, don’t get too deep in the weeds just yet. The top financial ratios are pretty straightforward, and can offer plenty of insight.

It’s perhaps the most popular valuation measure and relatively easy to calculate. You may not even have to calculate it, since most financial websites publish the P/E ratio of all publicly held stocks.

Generally, the higher the P/E ratio, the more optimistic investors are about the company’s ability to make money in the future. Going back to the $250 stock, say its most recent earnings per share over the past 12 months was $9.58. So, $250 divided by $9.58 gives you a P/E ratio of about 26. Is that high or low?

There are different ways to apply the P/E ratio. The simplest way to determine whether P/E is high or low is to compare P/E ratios of different companies in a similar sector or industry, and the P/E of an appropriate benchmark index. You may find that stocks with higher P/E ratios than their peers trade at a higher price. Sectors made up of fast-growing companies have higher P/E ratios. Stocks of more established companies may have lower P/E ratios. Just by looking at this one ratio, you get a glimpse of what goes on behind the price of a stock.

Note: There are two types of P/E ratios reported in the media:

P/E is a great starting point for determining a stock’s value. But it leaves questions unanswered. For instance, does a low P/E mean the price is attractive? Should you pay the higher price for a stock with a high P/E because of higher growth prospects? These can be answered through further fundamental analysis.

The PEG ratio can help you assess whether a certain P/E ratio—particularly a high one—is justified based on the history of its earnings growth. So, if a company’s P/E is about 26 and is expected to grow at roughly 25% in three years, the PEG ratio would be 26 divided by 25, which gives you 1.04. Generally, a PEG ratio greater than one suggests the price may be overvalued, and a ratio less than one may mean the price is undervalued.

The PEG, like the P/E ratio, is a piece of information. It’s best used for comparing against companies in the same sector. Remember, if a company has been averaging 25% growth over the past five years, that doesn’t mean it’ll continue to grow at that rate. Things change, which makes it difficult to forecast the future growth of a company. So, it helps to look at metrics other than earnings, such as cash flow.

The P/CF ratio views value with respect to a company’s cash flow—that is, how much cash a company is generating in relation to its stock price. You can find a company’s cash flow in its income statement, which is available on most financial websites, as well as in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website.

A high P/CF indicates the stock price is overvalued, whereas a low P/CF indicates the price is undervalued. What’s a good P/CF ratio? It varies from industry to industry, but some analysts use 10 as the cutoff between undervalued (below 10) and overvalued (above 10). As with all financial ratios, it makes sense to compare the values against stocks of companies in similar industries.

Not all companies have positive cash flow. A cash cow may have a temporary setback, and a high-growth company might be burning cash as it ramps up operations and marketing efforts.

The P/B ratio measures a company’s stock price against its total assets minus liabilities (book value). In short, you’re looking at how much a share is worth relative to the company’s book value. You can find a company’s total assets and liabilities in its balance sheet.

Granted, there’s a lot more to a company’s value than assets and liabilities—it’s what you do with those assets and how you manage those liabilities that determines long-term valuation. One rule of thumb used by analysts is a threshold of 2.0. A higher P/B could be a sign that a stock is overvalued. Below 2.0 could signal value. Below 1.0 is deep value.

But looking at P/B in isolation may not mean much. Compare the P/B of the stock to others in the same sector—banks versus banks; software versus software.

Manufacturing companies and financial institutions may have significant tangible assets—factories, land, real estate—that are easier to measure. Social media firms, on the other hand, may have more intangible assets such as intellectual property, brand loyalty, and reputation. If you’re considering investing in a company with more intangible assets, you could consider its revenue or sales from goods and services.

If you’re thinking of investing in a start-up that investors covet but has no profit yet, you may want to look at its P/S ratio. It looks at a stock from the perspective of how much you’re willing to pay for it with respect to the company’s total sales. You can find this in a company’s income statement.

What makes a good P/S ratio? You’ll have to compare the P/S of a stock to its peers and see where it ranks. If the average P/S ratio for the retail sector is three and the online retail start-up you’re interested in buying has a P/S of two, then perhaps the price is attractive. With ratios, it’s all relative.

There’s no one perfect gauge to determine the attractiveness of a stock price, but you can use a handful of the best financial ratios to identify differences between stocks of different sectors, well-established companies versus start-ups, and growth versus value stocks. You can also get different perspectives of a stock’s fundamental value. This could unravel some details that may help determine if the $250 stock is fairly valued and worth adding to your portfolio.