The most common measure of how expensive a stock is. The P/E ratio is equal to a stock’s market capitalization divided by its after-tax earnings over a 12-month period, usually the trailing period but occasionally the current or forward period. The value is the same whether the calculation is done for the whole company or on a per-share basis. For example, the P/E ratio of company A with a share price of $10 and earnings per share of $2 is 5.
The higher the P/E ratio, the more the market is willing to pay for each dollar of annual earnings. Companies with high P/E ratios are more likely to be considered “risky” investments than those with low P/E ratios, since a high P/E ratio signifies high expectations. Comparing P/E ratios is most valuable for companies within the same industry. The last year’s price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) would be actual, while current year and forward year price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) would be estimates, but in each case, the “P” in the equation is the current price. Companies that are not currently profitable (that is, ones which have negative earnings) don’t have a P/E ratio at all. also called earnings multiple.
NRG Yield, Inc. Class C (NYSE:NYLD) at $13.52 has one of the highest P/E ratio of all companies trading on the U.S. Exchanges. It is trading at 64.38 times the prior four quarters’ worth of earnings. The current share price is up 25.30% from its 52-week low and down -51.28% versus its peak. The company has a market cap of $880.24 billion and is part of the Energy. The key competitors include PG&E Corporation(NYSE:PCG), El Paso Electric Company(NYSE:EE) and Sempra Energy(NYSE:SRE).
NRG Yield, Inc., through its subsidiaries, acquires, owns, and operates contracted renewable and conventional generation, and thermal infrastructure assets in the United States. As of December 31, 2014, it had 4 natural gas or dual-fired facilities, 4 thermal generation facilities, 11 utility-scale solar and wind generation facilities, and 2 portfolios of distributed solar facilities with a capacity of approximately 2,984 net megawatt (MW). The company also owns thermal infrastructure assets with an aggregate steam and chilled water capacity of 1,467 net MW thermal equivalents, and electric generation capacity of 233 net MW.
La Quinta Holdings Inc (NYSE:LQ) has dropped -14.85% on the year, and it also has the high P/E ratio on Wall Street at 211.37. The stock, currently at $16.91, is up 10.09% from its 52-week low and down -32.20% versus its peak. It trades at an average volume of 2.13 million shares. The company is down -23.35% year-to-date as of the recent close with a market cap of $2.19 billion. It is part of the Cyclical Consumer Goods & Services and Hotels & Motels industry. The key competitors include Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Baidu (NASDAQ) and Yandex (YNDX).
La Quinta Holdings Inc. owns, operates, and franchises select-service hotels under the La Quinta brand. It serves the upper-midscale and midscale segments. As of May 7, 2015, the company had approximately 870 hotels with approximately 86,000 rooms under the La Quinta Inn & Suites, La Quinta Inn, and LQ Hotel brands in 47 states of the United States, as well as in Canada, Mexico, and Honduras. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Another highest P/E belongs to Welltower Inc(NYSE:HCN), which is trading at 51.39 times the prior four quarters’ worth of earnings. The share price has zoomed 8505.00% this year. The company has a market cap of $24.10 billion and is part of the Financials sector and Healthcare REITs industry. The key competitors include National Health Investors Inc(NYSE:NHI), Ventas, Inc.(NYSE:VTR) and Physicians Realty Trust(NYSE:DOC). The stock with recent price of $67.83 trades at an average volume of 2.06 million shares. The share price is up 11.20% from its 52-week low and down -17.33% versus its peak. It has a beta of 0.48.
Welltower Inc. is an independent equity real estate investment trust. The firm engages in acquiring, planning, developing, managing, repositioning and monetizing of real estate assets. It primarily invests in the real estate markets of the United States. The firm primarily invests in senior living and health care properties. It invests across the full spectrum of health care real estate, including senior living communities, medical office buildings, inpatient and outpatient medical centers and life science facilities. The firm conducts in-house research to make its investments. It was formerly known as Health Care REIT, Inc. Welltower Inc. was founded in 1970 and is based in Toledo, Ohio with additional offices in Brentwood, Tennessee and Dallas, Texas.