With a median price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of close to 0.8x in the Food industry in the United States, you could be forgiven for feeling indifferent about The J. M. Smucker Company's (NYSE:SJM) P/S ratio of 1.3x. 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.

See our latest analysis for J. M. Smucker

What Does J. M. Smucker's P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent times haven't been great for J. M. Smucker as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. Perhaps the market is expecting future revenue performance to lift, which has kept the P/S from declining. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on J. M. Smucker will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

J. M. Smucker's P/S ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the industry.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 7.8%. The latest three year period has also seen a 12% overall rise in revenue, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing revenue over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 1.4% each year over the next three years. With the industry predicted to deliver 2.8% growth per annum, the company is positioned for a comparable revenue result.

With this information, we can see why J. M. Smucker is trading at a fairly similar P/S to the industry. Apparently shareholders are comfortable to simply hold on while the company is keeping a low profile.

The Bottom Line On J. M. Smucker's P/S

It's argued the price-to-sales ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

Our look at J. M. Smucker's revenue growth estimates show that its P/S is about what we expect, as both metrics follow closely with the industry averages. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement or deterioration in revenue isn't great enough to push P/S in a higher or lower direction. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to support the share price at these levels.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for J. M. Smucker (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you need to be mindful 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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