Mineral Resources Limited (ASX:MIN) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 27% share price drop in the last month. The recent drop completes a disastrous twelve months for shareholders, who are sitting on a 60% loss during that time.

After such a large drop in price, Mineral Resources may be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 1x, since almost half of all companies in the Metals and Mining industry in Australia have P/S ratios greater than 58.1x and even P/S higher than 323x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/S at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.

View our latest analysis for Mineral Resources

What Does Mineral Resources' Recent Performance Look Like?

Recent times haven't been great for Mineral Resources as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the uninspiring revenue performance to persist, which has repressed the growth of the P/S ratio. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

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

How Is Mineral Resources' Revenue Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/S as depressed as Mineral Resources' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the industry decidedly.

If we review the last year of revenue, the company posted a result that saw barely any deviation from a year ago. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 42% overall rise in revenue, in spite of its uninspiring short-term performance. So while the company has done a solid job in the past, it's somewhat concerning to see revenue growth decline as much as it has.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 5.8% each year over the next three years. With the industry predicted to deliver 192% growth each year, the company is positioned for a weaker revenue result.

With this information, we can see why Mineral Resources is trading at a P/S lower than the industry. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From Mineral Resources' P/S?

Shares in Mineral Resources have plummeted and its P/S has followed suit. We'd say the price-to-sales ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As expected, our analysis of Mineral Resources' analyst forecasts confirms that the company's underwhelming revenue outlook is a major contributor to its low P/S. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in revenue isn't great enough to justify a higher P/S ratio. The company will need a change of fortune to justify the P/S rising higher in the future.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 1 warning sign for Mineral Resources that we have uncovered.

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

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