Kyoritsu Maintenance Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:9616) Shareholders Might Be Looking For Exit

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 16.7x Kyoritsu Maintenance Co., Ltd. (TSE:9616) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Japan have P/E ratios under 14x and even P/E's lower than 10x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

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Kyoritsu Maintenance certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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Is There Enough Growth For Kyoritsu Maintenance?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 16% last year. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 283% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 10% per annum as estimated by the eight analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 9.6% per annum growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's curious that Kyoritsu Maintenance's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Although, additional gains will be difficult to achieve as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh down the share price eventually.

The Final Word

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 Kyoritsu Maintenance's analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook isn't impacting its high P/E as much as we would have predicted. When we see an average earnings outlook with market-like growth, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Kyoritsu Maintenance, and understanding should be part of your investment process.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Kyoritsu Maintenance. 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.