CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group Limited (HKG:1995) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 31% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. But the last month did very little to improve the 62% share price decline over the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 6.3x, since almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 9x and even P/E's higher than 18x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. 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.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the market for P/E ratios like CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 52%. At least EPS has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 13% each year as estimated by the six analysts watching the company. With the market predicted to deliver 16% growth per year, the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group's P/E?

Despite CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group's shares building up a head of steam, its P/E still lags most other companies. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

It is also worth noting that we have found 4 warning signs for CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group (1 is significant!) that you need to take into consideration.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than CIFI Ever Sunshine Services Group. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.