H&R Block, Inc.'s (NYSE:HRB) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 11.8x might make it look like a 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 33x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been pleasing for H&R Block as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company's earnings are going to fall away like everyone else's soon. 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.

How Is H&R Block's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the market for P/E ratios like H&R Block's to be considered reasonable.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 13% gain to the company's bottom line. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see EPS up by 266% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 8.0% as estimated by the three analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 10% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that H&R Block's 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.

The Final Word

It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of H&R Block's 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.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 3 warning signs for H&R Block that we have uncovered.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on H&R Block, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.