The Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300122) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 26%. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 30% in that time.

Since its price has dipped substantially, Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products' price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 12.7x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 30x and even P/E's above 54x 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.

Recent times have been pleasing for Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. 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 not, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products

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

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow earnings per share by a handy 14% last year. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see EPS up by 175% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 16% per year over the next three years. With the market predicted to deliver 22% growth each year, the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products' P/E

Shares in Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products have plummeted and its P/E is now low enough to touch 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products' 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. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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