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Is Now The Time To Look At Buying WPP plc (LON:WPP)?

Let's talk about the popular WPP plc (LON:WPP). The company's shares received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the LSE over the last few months, increasing to UK£10.79 at one point, and dropping to the lows of UK£7.83. 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 WPP's current trading price of UK£8.27 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at WPP’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 WPP

What is WPP worth?

Great news for investors – WPP is still trading at a fairly cheap price 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 WPP’s ratio of 14.09x is below its peer average of 23.36x, which indicates the stock is trading at a lower price compared to the Media industry. What’s more interesting is that, WPP’s share price is quite volatile, which gives us more chances to buy since the share price could sink lower (or rise higher) in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What does the future of WPP look like?

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Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. 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. WPP's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 86%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Since WPP is currently below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to increase your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on WPP for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its prosperous future profit outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy WPP. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed assessment.

If you'd like to know more about WPP as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for WPP you should be aware of.

If you are no longer interested in WPP, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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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.