When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 19x, you may consider Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TR) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 25.3x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's as high as it is.

Earnings have risen firmly for Tootsie Roll Industries recently, which is pleasing to see. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors’ willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

See our latest analysis for Tootsie Roll Industries

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Tootsie Roll Industries, take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Tootsie Roll Industries would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow earnings per share by a handy 7.8% last year. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 61% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 15% over the next year, materially lower than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Tootsie Roll Industries is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Presumably shareholders aren't keen to offload something they believe will continue to outmanoeuvre the bourse.

What We Can Learn From Tootsie Roll Industries' P/E?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of Tootsie Roll Industries revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its high P/E, given they look better than current market expectations. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident earnings aren't under threat. Unless the recent medium-term conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Our free balance sheet analysis for Tootsie Roll Industries with six simple checks will allow you to discover any risks that could be an issue.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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