Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited's (ASX:DMP) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 29.9x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Australia, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 19x and even P/E's below 11x are quite common. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the strong earnings performance to persist, which has raised the P/E. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

View our latest analysis for Domino's Pizza Enterprises

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Domino's Pizza Enterprises.

How Is Domino's Pizza Enterprises' Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far outperform the market for P/E ratios like Domino's Pizza Enterprises' to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 33% last year. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen a very unpleasant 53% drop in EPS in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 23% per annum during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 19% each year, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Domino's Pizza Enterprises' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

We've established that Domino's Pizza Enterprises maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Domino's Pizza Enterprises you should be aware of.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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