Investors Appear Satisfied With Edison International's (NYSE:EIX) Prospects

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 24.1x Edison International (NYSE:EIX) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 19x and even P/E's lower than 11x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been advantageous for Edison International as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. 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?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as high as Edison International's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow earnings per share by a handy 6.4% last year. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 70% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 22% each year over the next three years. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% each year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Edison International is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

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.

As we suspected, our examination of Edison International's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

It is also worth noting that we have found 3 warning signs for Edison International (2 make us uncomfortable!) that you need to take into consideration.

If you're unsure about the strength of Edison International'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.