With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 10.4x Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios greater than 18x and even P/E's higher than 33x are not unusual. 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 Aflac 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 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.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Aflac's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 12%. The latest three year period has also seen a 21% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should bring diminished returns, with earnings decreasing 3.2% per annum as estimated by the ten analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the broader market is forecast to expand by 10% each year, which paints a poor picture.

In light of this, it's understandable that Aflac's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

What We Can Learn From Aflac's P/E?

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.

We've established that Aflac maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. 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 settle on your opinion, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Aflac (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Aflac, 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.