China Tower Corporation Limited's (HKG:788) Share Price Matching Investor Opinion

When close to half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 12x, you may consider China Tower Corporation Limited (HKG:788) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 16.6x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's as high as it is.

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Recent times have been advantageous for China Tower as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the strong earnings performance to persist, which has raised the P/E. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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Does Growth Match The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, China Tower would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 9.0%. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 38% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the twelve analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 26% each year over the next three years. With the market only predicted to deliver 14% each year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why China Tower is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've established that China Tower maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - China Tower has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than China Tower. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.