With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 24.8x Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 16x and even P/E's lower than 9x are not unusual.  However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.  

Fidelity National Financial has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies.   One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market.  You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.    

NYSE:FNF Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry April 18th 2024

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Fidelity National Financial.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?  

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Fidelity National Financial would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.  

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 59% decrease to the company's bottom line.   As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 63% overall.  Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.  

Shifting to the future, estimates from the four analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 137% over the next year.  That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Fidelity National Financial's P/E sits above the majority of other companies.  It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.  

The Key Takeaway

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

As we suspected, our examination of Fidelity National Financial's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E.  Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat.  Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.    

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 3 warning signs for Fidelity National Financial that you need to be mindful of.  

If P/E ratios interest you, 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.