The Priceline Group Inc (PCLN, Financial) will release financial results for the entire year of fiscal 2017 and its fourth quarter after the closing bell on Feb. 27.
A total of 29 estimates ranging from $13.65 to $14.75 per share show a mean value of $14.1 per share, indicating a flat net profit per share compared to the prior-year quarter.
Source: Yahoo Finance
If the online travel, restaurant reservation and related services provider will meet consensus on the average estimate for the net profit per share, this will be a meaningless decline of 0.8% from the comparable quarter of fiscal 2016.
Concerning the top line of the company’s income statement for the fourth quarter of 2017, analysts foresee a nearly 15% growth on a year over year basis to $2.7 billion. This is an average of a $2.64 billion to $2.78 billion range. The range has been defined by 26 estimates of analysts who were surveyed.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Full fiscal 2017 revenue is instead projected to $12.57 billion, which represents a 17% growth from 2016.
In the chart below, you can see the progression in Priceline’s yearly sales over the last 5 fiscal years plus sales projections for full fiscals 2017 and 2018:
The Priceline Group Inc owns Booking.com, priceline.com, KAYAK, agoda.com, rentalcars.com, and OpenTable. Through these primary brands, the company is a leader in the world concerning the supply of online travel & related services. The Priceline Group has contacts with consumers and local partners in more than 200 countries.
Analysts estimate that Priceline’s business will continue to expand over the next 5 years in the measure of an average 15.77% annual growth rate in the company’s earnings. This means that at the end of 2022, the company’s yearly figure of revenue should approximate $27.8 billion according to a net profit margin of 26.24% of total net revenues. The net profit margin that I have used to project Priceline’s net revenue to full fiscal 2022 is an average over the last five fiscal years.
The ability of the company to grow its business and remain profitable is measured by GuruFocus with an overall rating of 9 out of a total of 10.
The company doesn’t pay dividends to its shareholders. The only return for Priceline Group’s stakeholders is represented by the stock appreciation on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The following chart compares cumulative return on The Priceline Group over the period of the last five years with the cumulative returns on the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index.
As you can see in the above chart, the cumulative return on The Priceline Group through February 1, 2018, of a $100 cash investment on February 1, 2013, outpaced the cumulative return on the S&P 500 index and on the NASDAQ Composite Index.
Over the five-year period endingl Dec. 30, 2016, the investment of $100 in cash on shares of The Priceline Group Inc. also outperformed the Research Data Group Internet Composite Index, according to the company’s report for full fiscal 2016 (see page no. 31 of the Form 10-K)
The Priceline Group is currently trading at $1,885 per share and has a market capitalization of $91.93 billion. The price-book (P/B) ratio is 7.14 times versus an industry average of 1.80 times, the price-sales (P/S) ratio is 7.71 times versus an industry average of 1.86 times and the price-earnings (P/E) ratio is 26.40 times versus an industry median of 22.50 times.
The 52-week range is $1,612.41 to $2,067.99. The forward P/E ratio of 22.62 times versus an industry median of 20.16 times. When the forward PE ratio is multiplied to an EPS of $83.36 – a forecast for full fiscal 2018 – it yields to a value of $1,885.60 per share.
The recommendation rating is 2.1 out of 5. The average target price is $2,040.52 per share. From the current market valuation per share, this mean value represents an 8.3% growth that analysts foresee the share price will reach within the following 52 weeks of trading.
Concerning the financial conditions of the company, GuruFocus assigns The Priceline Group Inc. a financial strength of 7 out of a total of 10.
The Priceline Group Inc is currently reporting a volume of 48.77 million shares outstanding, according to GuruFocus. Of which, 95.83% is held by institutions and 2.49% is held by insiders. Among the top shareholders of the company, Price (T.Rowe) Growth Stock Fund Inc. stands out with 2.33% of The Priceline Group’s shares outstanding, followed by Growth Fund Of America Inc with 2.07%. These two holdings are as of Dec. 30, 2017.
(Disclosure: I have no positions in any security mentioned in this article.)
