When close to half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 29x, you may consider Limin Group Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:002734) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 41.1x 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 as high as it is.

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, Limin GroupLtd has been very sluggish. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Limin GroupLtd

How Is Limin GroupLtd's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as high as Limin GroupLtd's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 70% decrease to the company's bottom line. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 85% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 311% as estimated by the only analyst watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 42%, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

In light of this, it's understandable that Limin GroupLtd's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

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 Limin GroupLtd maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. 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 and we've discovered 4 warning signs for Limin GroupLtd (2 are significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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

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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.