Final answer:
A conclusion from Al's company having a higher PEG ratio but the same P/E ratio as Ben's company suggests that Al's company is expected to have lower earnings growth, making it potentially overvalued or facing slower growth rates.
Step-by-step explanation:
If Al's company has a higher Price-Earnings Growth (PEG) ratio than Ben's company, while both have the same Price-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 18.5, a conclusion that can be made is that investors anticipate Al's company to experience higher earnings growth in the future compared to Ben's company.
The PEG ratio is used to determine a stock's value while also factoring in the company's expected earnings growth, and it is calculated by dividing the P/E ratio by the annual earnings per share growth. Since the P/E ratio is the same for both companies, Al's higher PEG ratio suggests that his company has a lower expected earnings growth rate, because a higher PEG ratio usually indicates the stock is overvalued or that the company's growth rates are slowing.