When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 17x, you may consider Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) as a highly attractive investment with its 7x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Warrior Met Coal has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions. Or at the very least, you'd be hoping the earnings slide doesn't get any worse if your plan is to pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

View our latest analysis for Warrior Met Coal

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

Warrior Met Coal's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 34% decrease to the company's bottom line. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 2,262% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would probably welcome the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 0.2% per year as estimated by the four analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 12% per year growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Warrior Met Coal's 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 Warrior Met Coal's P/E?

It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Warrior Met Coal's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. 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.

Plus, you should also learn about these 6 warning signs we've spotted with Warrior Met Coal (including 2 which are significant).

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a low P/E.

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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.