The North European Oil Royalty Trust (NYSE:NRT) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 27%. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 50% over that time.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, North European Oil Royalty Trust's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 5.3x might still 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 32x 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.

For instance, North European Oil Royalty Trust's receding earnings in recent times would have to be some food for thought. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader market in the near future. 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.

Is There Any Growth For North European Oil Royalty Trust?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 51% decrease to the company's bottom line. Even so, admirably EPS has lifted 346% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 11% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's peculiar that North European Oil Royalty Trust's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Bottom Line On North European Oil Royalty Trust's P/E

North European Oil Royalty Trust's recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

We've established that North European Oil Royalty Trust currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. When we see strong earnings with faster-than-market growth, we assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/E ratio. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 2 warning signs for North European Oil Royalty Trust that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than North European Oil Royalty Trust. 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.