Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group Corporation Limited (SHSE:600329) shares have had a horrible month, losing 29% after a relatively good period beforehand. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 22% share price drop.

Following the heavy fall in price, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group may be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 19.3x, since almost half of all companies in China have P/E ratios greater than 28x and even P/E's higher than 50x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group has been doing quite well of late. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, possibly more than the market, which has repressed the P/E. 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.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 18% gain to the company's bottom line. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 51% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 31% during the coming year according to the three analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 41% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's recently weak share price has pulled its P/E below most other companies. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Having said that, be aware Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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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.