Take Care Before Diving Into The Deep End On Menif Financial Services, Ltd. (TLV:MNIF)

When close to half the companies in Israel have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 12x, you may consider Menif Financial Services, Ltd. (TLV:MNIF) as an attractive investment with its 9.6x 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 limited.

Menif Financial Services certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing earnings at a really rapid pace. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Menif Financial Services

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Menif Financial Services' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Is There Any Growth For Menif Financial Services?

Menif Financial Services' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 362% last year. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 228% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 30% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Menif Financial Services' P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Bottom Line On Menif Financial Services' P/E

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

Our examination of Menif Financial Services revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't contributing to its P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted, given they look better than current market expectations. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching this positive performance. At least price risks look to be very low if recent medium-term earnings trends continue, but investors seem to think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.

You need to take note of risks, for example - Menif Financial Services has 3 warning signs (and 2 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly and trade on P/E's below 20x.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.