What is the PER (price-earnings ratio)?

The PER is the share price divided by earnings per share (EPS), showing how many times its per-share earnings a stock is trading at.

If a company's PER is higher than its own historical trend or than that of other companies with similar earnings structures, its share price is sometimes judged to be highly valued relative to its earnings. However, interpretation can vary depending on the industry, growth prospects, one-off gains or losses and other factors.