Enerplus Corporation's (TSE:ERF) Earnings Are Not Doing Enough For Some Investors

When close to half the companies in Canada have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 13x, you may consider Enerplus Corporation (TSE:ERF) as a highly attractive investment with its 4.2x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With only a limited decrease in earnings compared to most other companies of late, Enerplus has been doing relatively well. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this relatively better earnings performance might be about to deteriorate significantly. If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions. But at the very least, you'd be hoping that earnings don't fall off a cliff completely if your plan is to pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

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How Is Enerplus' Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as depressed as Enerplus' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market decidedly.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 1.6%. At least EPS has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to slump, contracting by 21% during the coming year according to the sole analyst following the company. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 13%, which paints a poor picture.

In light of this, it's understandable that Enerplus' P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

What We Can Learn From Enerplus' P/E?

While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Enerplus' analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Enerplus you should be aware of, and 1 of them is significant.

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

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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.