OneWater Marine Inc. (NASDAQ:ONEW) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 26% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 19% in that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, it's still not a stretch to say that OneWater Marine's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.2x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Specialty Retail industry in the United States, where the median P/S ratio is around 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.

How Has OneWater Marine Performed Recently?

Recent times have been advantageous for OneWater Marine as its revenues have been rising faster than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/S ratio is moderate because investors think this strong revenue performance might be about to tail off. If the company manages to stay the course, then investors should be rewarded with a share price that matches its revenue figures.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

In order to justify its P/S ratio, OneWater Marine would need to produce growth that's similar to the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 8.9% gain to the company's revenues. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 78% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 1.5% as estimated by the seven analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 3.6% growth forecast for the broader industry.

In light of this, it's curious that OneWater Marine's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently many investors in the company are less bearish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as this level of revenue growth is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

The Final Word

OneWater Marine's plummeting stock price has brought its P/S back to a similar region as the rest of the industry. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

Given that OneWater Marine's revenue growth projections are relatively subdued in comparison to the wider industry, it comes as a surprise to see it trading at its current P/S ratio. When we see companies with a relatively weaker revenue outlook compared to the industry, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the moderate P/S lower. A positive change is needed in order to justify the current price-to-sales ratio.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 1 warning sign for OneWater Marine that you should be aware of.

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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