In the current market session, Biogen Inc. BIIB is trading at $269.02, after a 0.1% increase. However, over the past month, the stock decreased by 1.39%, and in the past year, by 3.53%. Shareholders might be interested in knowing whether the stock is undervalued, even if the company is performing up to par in the current session.

The stock is currently above from its 52 week low by 22.28%. Assuming that all other factors are held constant, this could present itself as an opportunity for investors trying to diversify their portfolio with Biotechnology stocks, and capitalize on the lower share price observed over the year.

The P/E ratio is used by long-term shareholders to assess the company’s market performance against aggregate market data, historical earnings, and the industry at large. A lower P/E indicates that shareholders do not expect the stock to perform better in the future, and that the company is probably undervalued. It shows that shareholders are less than willing to pay a high share price, because they do not expect the company to exhibit growth, in terms of future earnings.

Most often, an industry will prevail in a particular phase of a business cycle, than other industries.

Biogen Inc. has a lower P/E than the aggregate P/E of 22.14 of the Biotechnology industry. Ideally, one might believe that they might perform worse than its peers, but it’s also probable that the stock is undervalued.

There are many limitations to price to earnings ratio. It is sometimes difficult to determine the nature of the earnings makeup of a company. Shareholders might not get what they're looking for, from trailing earnings.