The Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (NASDAQ:KEQU) share price has softened a substantial 30% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. Still, a bad month hasn't completely ruined the past year with the stock gaining 50%, which is great even in a bull market.

Following the heavy fall in price, given about half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Kewaunee Scientific as a highly attractive investment with its 6.9x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Kewaunee Scientific certainly has been doing a great job lately as it's been growing earnings at a really rapid pace. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. 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.

View our latest analysis for Kewaunee Scientific

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Kewaunee Scientific's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like Kewaunee Scientific's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 169%. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 14% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's understandable that Kewaunee Scientific's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

Kewaunee Scientific's P/E looks about as weak as its stock price lately. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Kewaunee Scientific revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Kewaunee Scientific that you need to take into consideration.

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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