When close to half the companies in the Oil and Gas industry in the United States have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.6x, you may consider Gulfport Energy Corporation (NYSE:GPOR) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 3.3x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/S.

What Does Gulfport Energy's Recent Performance Look Like?

Recent times have been advantageous for Gulfport Energy as its revenues have been rising faster than most other companies. It seems the market expects this form will continue into the future, hence the elevated P/S ratio. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Keen to find out how analysts think Gulfport Energy's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

How Is Gulfport Energy's Revenue Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as high as Gulfport Energy's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the industry.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 11% gain to the company's revenues. Still, lamentably revenue has fallen 39% in aggregate from three years ago, which is disappointing. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing revenue over that time.

Looking ahead now, revenue is anticipated to climb by 39% during the coming year according to the four analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 6.7% growth forecast for the broader industry.

With this information, we can see why Gulfport Energy is trading at such a high P/S compared to the industry. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

What Does Gulfport Energy's P/S Mean For Investors?

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

As we suspected, our examination of Gulfport Energy's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior revenue outlook is contributing to its high P/S. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/S as they are quite confident future revenues aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Gulfport Energy, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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.