It has been another positive day of trade for the SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price.
The job listings company's shares have pushed higher today and reached an all-time high of $21.34.
This latest gain means that SEEK's shares have now risen an impressive 30% since this time last year.
Why are SEEK's shares up 30% in 12 months?
In the first-half of FY 2018 SEEK delivered revenue and EBITDA growth of 26% and 20% on the prior corresponding period.
This strong performance led management to advise that it expects reported full-year net profit after tax to be at the upper end of its guidance range of $225 million to $230 million.
While this will be a decline from FY 2017's reported net profit after tax of $340.2 million, it is worth remembering that this included a $174.3 million fair value gain on its Online Education Services business and other one-off items.
Excluding these from the equation reported net profit after tax would have been $201.5 million, meaning this year SEEK is on course to deliver earnings growth of around 14%.
Is it too late to buy shares?
I think it could be. Based on its guidance for FY 2018, I estimate that earnings per share will come in at 60.5 cents. This means SEEK's shares are currently trading at a reasonably lofty 35x full-year earnings.
While I do think SEEK deserves to trade at a premium due to its strong market position and growing operations both at home and abroad, I feel its shares are starting to look a little on the expensive side now.
Not that I am in a hurry to sell my shares. I think SEEK is one of the best buy and hold options on the market, but I just wouldn't be a buyer if I didn't already own shares unless I could get in closer to the 30x earnings mark.
The same arguably applies to fellow listings businesses REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) and Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR). Both are quality businesses but I would suggest investors hold out for a pullback before making a move.
