When close to half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 12x, you may consider Sichuan Expressway Company Limited (HKG:107) as an attractive investment with its 9.1x 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 limited.
It looks like earnings growth has deserted Sichuan Expressway recently, which is not something to boast about. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this benign earnings growth rate will likely underperform the broader market in the near future. If not, then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.
Check out our latest analysis for Sichuan Expressway
Does Growth Match The Low P/E?
Sichuan Expressway's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.
If we review the last year of earnings, the company posted a result that saw barely any deviation from a year ago. Whilst it's an improvement, it wasn't enough to get the company out of the hole it was in, with earnings down 12% overall from three years ago. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.
Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 19% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term earnings results is a sobering picture.
With this information, we are not surprised that Sichuan Expressway is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.
The Key Takeaway
Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.
We've established that Sichuan Expressway maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its sliding earnings over the medium-term, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.
Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Sichuan Expressway (1 is a bit unpleasant) you should be aware of.
If you're unsure about the strength of Sichuan Expressway's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.
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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.