Unfortunately for some shareholders, the TTEC Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC) share price has dived 27% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. For any long-term shareholders, the last month ends a year to forget by locking in a 77% share price decline.

In spite of the heavy fall in price, given about half the companies operating in the United States' Professional Services industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 1.3x, you may still consider TTEC Holdings as an attractive investment with its 0.2x P/S ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

What Does TTEC Holdings' P/S Mean For Shareholders?

Recent times haven't been great for TTEC Holdings as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the uninspiring revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the growth of the P/S ratio. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

Do Revenue Forecasts Match The Low P/S Ratio?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as low as TTEC Holdings' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any revenue growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Regardless, revenue has managed to lift by a handy 26% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing revenue over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 0.07% per annum as estimated by the seven analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is forecast to expand by 7.0% per annum, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this in consideration, its clear as to why TTEC Holdings' P/S is falling short industry peers. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

The Bottom Line On TTEC Holdings' P/S

The southerly movements of TTEC Holdings' shares means its P/S is now sitting at a pretty low level. It's argued the price-to-sales 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 TTEC Holdings' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior revenue outlook is contributing to its low P/S. Shareholders' pessimism on the revenue prospects for the company seems to be the main contributor to the depressed P/S. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Plus, you should also learn about these 5 warning signs we've spotted with TTEC Holdings (including 1 which is potentially serious).

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.