The Ouhua Energy Holdings Limited (SGX:AJ2) share price has done very well over the last month, posting an excellent gain of 25%. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 30%.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, given close to half the companies in Singapore have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 12x, you may still consider Ouhua Energy Holdings as a highly attractive investment with its 4.4x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, Ouhua Energy Holdings has been doing very well. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Ouhua Energy Holdings

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Ouhua Energy Holdings would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 212% last year. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 60% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Comparing that to the market, which is only predicted to deliver 8.0% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

With this information, we find it odd that Ouhua Energy Holdings is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It looks like most investors are not convinced the company can maintain its recent growth rates.

The Bottom Line On Ouhua Energy Holdings' P/E

Ouhua Energy Holdings' recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground. 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.

We've established that Ouhua Energy Holdings 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.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 2 warning signs for Ouhua Energy Holdings (1 can't be ignored!) that we have uncovered.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Ouhua Energy Holdings. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that sit on P/E's below 20x 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.