With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 6.8x China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (HKG:144) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 10x and even P/E's higher than 18x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

China Merchants Port Holdings could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to get any better. If you still 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.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, China Merchants Port Holdings would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 24% decrease to the company's bottom line. Unfortunately, that's brought it right back to where it started three years ago with EPS growth being virtually non-existent overall during that time. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 4.6% per annum as estimated by the eight analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 15% per annum, which is noticeably more attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that China Merchants Port Holdings' P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From China Merchants Port Holdings' P/E?

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of China Merchants Port Holdings' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - China Merchants Port Holdings has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than China Merchants Port Holdings. 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.