Ingredion Incorporated's (NYSE:INGR) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 12.7x 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 19x and even P/E's above 35x 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 limited.

With earnings growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, Ingredion has been relatively sluggish. It seems that many are expecting the uninspiring earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

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What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's bottom line as the year before. Although pleasingly EPS has lifted 475% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 6.0% per year during the coming three years according to the five analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 11% growth per annum, the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Ingredion is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Ingredion's P/E

While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Ingredion'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. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - Ingredion has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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

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