King International Investment Limited (HKG:928) shares have retraced a considerable 26% in the last month, reversing a fair amount of their solid recent performance. To make matters worse, the recent drop has wiped out a year's worth of gains with the share price now back where it started a year ago.

Although its price has dipped substantially, it's still not a stretch to say that King International Investment's price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.6x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the Healthcare industry in Hong Kong, where the median P/S ratio is around 1x. However, investors might be overlooking a clear opportunity or potential setback if there is no rational basis for the P/S.

Check out our latest analysis for King International Investment

How Has King International Investment Performed Recently?

King International Investment has been doing a decent job lately as it's been growing revenue at a reasonable pace. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to only match most other companies over the coming period, which has kept the P/S from rising. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's not quite in favour.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for King International Investment, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is King International Investment's Revenue Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the industry for P/S ratios like King International Investment's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 4.4%. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see revenue up by 129% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the revenue growth recently has been superb for the company.

When compared to the industry's one-year growth forecast of 13%, the most recent medium-term revenue trajectory is noticeably more alluring

In light of this, it's curious that King International Investment's P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance is at its limits and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

Following King International Investment's share price tumble, its P/S is just clinging on to the industry median P/S. Using the price-to-sales ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've established that King International Investment currently trades on a lower than expected P/S since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider industry forecast. It'd be fair to assume that potential risks the company faces could be the contributing factor to the lower than expected P/S. It appears some are indeed anticipating revenue instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - King International Investment has 4 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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