Should You Think About Buying Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) Now?

Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX), operating in the financial services industry based in United States, saw significant share price movement during recent months on the NYSE, rising to highs of US$30.48 and falling to the lows of US$24.81. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Axos Financial's current trading price of US$24.91 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at Axos Financial’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

View our latest analysis for Axos Financial

What is Axos Financial worth?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. In this instance, I’ve used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stock’s cash flows. I find that Axos Financial’s ratio of 9.46x is trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 12.76x, which means if you buy Axos Financial today, you’d be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe that Axos Financial should be trading at this level in the long run, then there’s not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Axos Financial’s beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company’s shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity.

What does the future of Axos Financial look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 18% in the upcoming year, the short-term outlook is positive for Axos Financial. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? AX’s optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at AX? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on AX, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for AX, which means it’s worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters – the fundamentals – before you make a decision on Axos Financial. You can find everything you need to know about Axos Financial in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Axos Financial, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.