With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 6.6x Sinotrans Limited (HKG:598) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 10x and even P/E's higher than 20x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/E.

Sinotrans certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Sinotrans

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

Is There Any Growth For Sinotrans?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow earnings per share by a handy 8.1% last year. The latest three year period has also seen a 5.1% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 5.1% as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 22%, which is noticeably more attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Sinotrans' P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From Sinotrans' 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.

We've established that Sinotrans maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider market, as expected. 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.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Sinotrans that 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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