Anhui Conch Cement Company Limited's (HKG:914) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 13.9x might make it look like a sell right now compared to the market in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 10x and even P/E's below 5x 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.

Anhui Conch Cement 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 Anhui Conch Cement

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Does Growth Match The High P/E?

Anhui Conch Cement's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 40% decrease to the company's bottom line. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 78% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 13% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 13% each year, which is not materially different.

With this information, we find it interesting that Anhui Conch Cement is trading at a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently many investors in the company are more bullish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Although, additional gains will be difficult to achieve as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh down the share price eventually.

The Bottom Line On Anhui Conch Cement's 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.

Our examination of Anhui Conch Cement's analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook isn't impacting its high P/E as much as we would have predicted. Right now we are uncomfortable with the relatively high share price as the predicted future earnings aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Anhui Conch Cement that you need to take into consideration.

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

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