It's not a stretch to say that The Travelers Companies, Inc.'s (NYSE:TRV) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 15.8x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in the United States, where the median P/E ratio is around 17x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/E ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, Travelers Companies has been doing quite well of late. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to deteriorate like the rest, which has kept the P/E from rising. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

How Is Travelers Companies' Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Travelers Companies would need to produce growth that's similar to the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 15% gain to the company's bottom line. The solid recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 22% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 19% each year during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% per annum growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we find it interesting that Travelers Companies is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. Apparently some shareholders are skeptical of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.

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.

Our examination of Travelers Companies' analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook isn't contributing to its P/E as much as we would have predicted. When we see a strong earnings outlook with faster-than-market growth, we assume potential risks are what might be placing pressure on the P/E ratio. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future earnings could see some volatility.

Plus, you should also learn about this 1 warning sign we've spotted with Travelers Companies.

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