Celanese Corporation's (NYSE:CE) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 8.3x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 17x and even P/E's above 33x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, Celanese has been doing relatively well. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

See our latest analysis for Celanese

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like Celanese's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 22% last year. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 279% 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.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to slump, contracting by 11% per year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 13% growth per annum, that's a disappointing outcome.

With this information, we are not surprised that Celanese is trading at a P/E lower than the market. However, shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

What We Can Learn From Celanese's P/E?

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

We've established that Celanese maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Celanese (3 are a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of.

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