Amano Corporation's (TSE:6436) Business Is Trailing The Market But Its Shares Aren't

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 15.6x Amano Corporation (TSE:6436) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Japan have P/E ratios under 12x and even P/E's lower than 8x are not unusual. 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 Amano 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. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

View our latest analysis for Amano

Keen to find out how analysts think Amano's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start .

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

Amano's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than 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 110% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 11% per year as estimated by the two analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 9.7% each year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we find it interesting that Amano is trading at a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently many investors in the company are more bullish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. These shareholders may be setting themselves up for disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

The Final Word

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 Amano currently trades on a higher than expected P/E since its forecast growth is only in line with the wider market. 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. Unless these conditions improve, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Amano that you need to take into consideration.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.