To the annoyance of some shareholders, Cable One, Inc. (NYSE:CABO) shares are down a considerable 30% in the last month, which continues a horrid run for the company. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 72% loss during that time.
After such a large drop in price, Cable One may be sending buy signals at present with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.3x, considering almost half of all companies in the Media industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 0.9x and even P/S higher than 3x aren't out of the ordinary. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Check out our latest analysis for Cable One
While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, Cable One's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It seems that many are expecting the poor revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the P/S ratio. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.
Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Cable One will help you uncover what's on the horizon.The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as Cable One's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 4.9% decrease to the company's top line. As a result, revenue from three years ago have also fallen 11% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.
Turning to the outlook, the next three years should bring diminished returns, with revenue decreasing 4.1% per year as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. That's not great when the rest of the industry is expected to grow by 6.3% per year.
With this information, we are not surprised that Cable One is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/S has reached a floor yet with revenue going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.
The southerly movements of Cable One's shares means its P/S is now sitting at a pretty low level. It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.
With revenue forecasts that are inferior to the rest of the industry, it's no surprise that Cable One's P/S is on the lower end of the spectrum. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Cable One that you need to take into consideration.
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.
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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.