LSI Industries Inc.'s (NASDAQ:LYTS) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 19x might make it look like a sell right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 16x and even P/E's below 9x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/E.

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LSI Industries could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think this poor earnings performance will turn the corner. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for LSI Industries

Keen to find out how analysts think LSI Industries' future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start .

Is There Enough Growth For LSI Industries?

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

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 16%. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 176% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 23% per annum during the coming three years according to the three analysts following the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 11% per year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

In light of this, it's understandable that LSI Industries' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On LSI Industries' P/E

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that LSI Industries maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

The company's balance sheet is another key area for risk analysis. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for LSI Industries with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than LSI Industries. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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