It's not a stretch to say that Hiap Seng Industries Limited's (SGX:1L2) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.7x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" for companies in the Construction industry in Singapore, where the median P/S ratio is around 0.5x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/S without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

What Does Hiap Seng Industries' Recent Performance Look Like?

Revenue has risen firmly for Hiap Seng Industries recently, which is pleasing to see. It might be that many expect the respectable revenue performance to wane, which has kept the P/S from rising. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders probably aren't too pessimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The P/S Ratio?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew revenue by an impressive 17% last year. However, the latest three year period hasn't been as great in aggregate as it didn't manage to provide any growth at all. Therefore, it's fair to say that revenue growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Comparing that to the industry, which is predicted to deliver 13% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker, based on recent medium-term annualised revenue results.

In light of this, it's curious that Hiap Seng Industries' P/S sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently many investors in the company are less bearish than recent times would indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as a continuation of recent revenue trends is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

What Does Hiap Seng Industries' P/S Mean For Investors?

We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

Our examination of Hiap Seng Industries revealed its poor three-year revenue trends aren't resulting in a lower P/S as per our expectations, given they look worse than current industry outlook. When we see weak revenue with slower than industry growth, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, bringing the P/S back in line with expectations. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, the probability of a share price decline will become quite substantial, placing shareholders at risk.