Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 29% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. The last month tops off a massive increase of 148% in the last year.

Following the firm bounce in price, given around half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 16x, you may consider Argan as a stock to potentially avoid with its 23.6x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

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Argan certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this strong earnings performance will continue. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Argan

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

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 162% last year. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 158% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 13% per annum as estimated by the dual analysts watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 11% per annum, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Argan is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

What We Can Learn From Argan's P/E?

The large bounce in Argan's shares has lifted the company's P/E to a fairly high level. We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Argan's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 2 warning signs for Argan that you should be aware of.

You might be able to find a better investment than Argan. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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