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S&P 500 Sector Valuation Dashboard
Compare trailing and forward P/E ratios for all 11 S&P 500 sectors. See which sectors trade cheap or expensive vs. earnings estimates. Updated daily.
How to use sector P/E ratios
What is a good sector P/E?
There's no universal answer — it depends on growth and rates. Technology typically trades at 20–30x because of faster earnings growth. Utilities and Financials trade at 12–18x because of slower, more predictable growth. The most actionable signal is how the current P/E compares to each sector's own historical average — not its absolute level.
Don't time the market with this alone
A low relative P/E can mean genuine value — or it can mean earnings are about to fall. Energy often looks cheap right before commodity prices collapse. Always pair sector P/E context with earnings growth expectations and macro outlook before tilting your portfolio toward a sector.
Use alongside earnings growth
The PEG ratio (P/E divided by earnings growth rate) adjusts for the fact that fast-growing sectors deserve higher P/Es. A sector with a 30x P/E and 25% EPS growth is cheaper than one with a 20x P/E and 5% EPS growth. Check the DCF Calculator to model intrinsic value for individual stocks within any sector.
Sector P/E varies structurally
Technology will almost always have a higher P/E than Utilities — this is by design, not a signal. What matters is whether each sector's P/E is high or low relative to its own history. That's what the “vs. Avg” column captures: how today's valuation compares to the past 5 years for that specific sector.
EV/EBITDA and ROIC benchmarks by sector
Median estimates for S&P 500 constituents. EV/EBITDA strips out capital structure differences, making it the go-to multiple for cross-sector comparison. ROIC measures how efficiently each sector converts invested capital into operating profit — sectors with ROIC well above their cost of capital tend to sustain premium valuations over time.
| Sector | EV/EBITDA (median) | ROIC (median) |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | 18x | 22% |
| Healthcare | 14x | 14% |
| Financials | 11x | 11% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 15x | 13% |
| Consumer Staples | 12x | 14% |
| Energy | 7x | 10% |
| Materials | 9x | 11% |
| Industrials | 14x | 13% |
| Utilities | 9x | 7% |
| Real Estate | 18x | 5% |
| Communication Services | 12x | 15% |
Source: S&P 500 median estimates. EV/EBITDA data sourced from live market prices via the dashboard above. ROIC benchmarks are trailing-twelve-month medians. See the EV/EBITDA guide and ROIC guide for sector-specific interpretation.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good sector P/E ratio?
There is no universal 'good' P/E — it depends on the sector's growth profile and interest rate environment. Technology and Consumer Discretionary typically trade at higher P/Es (20–30x) because of faster earnings growth. Utilities and Financials typically trade at lower P/Es (12–18x) because of slower, more predictable growth. The most useful signal is not the absolute level but how the current P/E compares to the sector's own historical average: a 15x P/E in Technology is cheap; a 15x P/E in Utilities is expensive.
Which S&P 500 sector has the lowest P/E ratio?
Financials and Energy historically trade at the lowest trailing P/E ratios among S&P 500 sectors — typically in the 10–16x range. This reflects slower earnings growth and higher cyclicality. However, P/E is less meaningful for Financials (where Price-to-Book is more standard) and can be distorted for Energy by commodity price swings that compress or inflate earnings in a single quarter.
How often is this sector P/E data updated?
The data is fetched from Yahoo Finance and cached for one hour. P/E ratios for sector ETFs change slowly intraday — they reflect the aggregate trailing 12-month earnings of all holdings, not daily price moves — so hourly updates provide a practical balance between freshness and API cost. The 'Last updated' timestamp on the dashboard shows the exact time of the most recent data pull.
What is the current forward P/E for each S&P 500 sector?
Forward P/E ratios change daily as analyst earnings estimates are revised. The dashboard above shows the current forward P/E for all 11 GICS sectors (Technology, Health Care, Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Industrials, Materials, Real Estate, Utilities, and Communication Services) sourced from analyst-consensus next-twelve-months EPS estimates via Yahoo Finance. As a general guide, Technology and Consumer Discretionary typically carry the highest forward P/Es (often 20–28x) while Energy and Financials carry the lowest (often 10–16x). Use the Fwd P/E column alongside the Trailing P/E column to gauge whether earnings estimates are moving up or down relative to price.
What is EV/EBITDA by sector for the S&P 500?
Median EV/EBITDA varies significantly across S&P 500 sectors. Technology and Real Estate typically carry the highest multiples (around 18x) while Energy trades at the lowest (around 7x), reflecting commodity price volatility and capital intensity. Consumer Staples and Utilities typically trade in the 9–12x range. EV/EBITDA is preferred over P/E when comparing across capital structures because it strips out the effects of leverage and tax policy.
What is a good ROIC by sector benchmark?
Return on invested capital (ROIC) benchmarks differ sharply across sectors. Technology leads with ~22% ROIC, driven by high-margin software businesses with low capital requirements. Communication Services (~15%) and Healthcare (~14%) follow. Capital-intensive sectors like Real Estate (~5%) and Utilities (~7%) produce lower ROIC because of the large asset bases required to generate revenue. A company with ROIC above its sector median is compounding capital efficiently; below-median ROIC often signals a moat problem or structural overcapacity.
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