When close to half the companies in Australia have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 18x, you may consider Deterra Royalties Limited (ASX:DRR) as an attractive investment with its 13.8x 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 limited.

Deterra Royalties could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. It seems that many are expecting the dour earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. If you still 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.

See our latest analysis for Deterra Royalties

Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Deterra Royalties will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

How Is Deterra Royalties' Growth Trending?

Deterra Royalties' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 17% decrease to the company's bottom line. This has soured the latest three-year period, which nevertheless managed to deliver a decent 21% overall rise in EPS. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would be roughly satisfied with the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to slump, contracting by 0.4% per annum during the coming three years according to the eleven analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 16% growth per annum, that's a disappointing outcome.

In light of this, it's understandable that Deterra Royalties' P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

The Bottom Line On Deterra Royalties' 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 Deterra Royalties maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast for sliding earnings, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Having said that, be aware Deterra Royalties is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is significant.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.