HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials Co., Ltd (SHSE:603306) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 25% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Not all shareholders will be feeling jubilant, since the share price is still down a very disappointing 48% in the last twelve months.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials' price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 31.1x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in China, where the median P/E ratio is around 30x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/E ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials has been doing quite well of late. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to deteriorate like the rest, which has kept the P/E from rising. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

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

HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 32% gain to the company's bottom line. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year EPS growth being relatively non-existent overall. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the only analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 29% over the next year. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 41% growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we find it interesting that HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. Apparently many investors in the company are less bearish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. Maintaining these prices will be difficult to achieve as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh down the shares eventually.

What We Can Learn From HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials' P/E?

HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials' stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/E level with the market. 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 HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials' analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook isn't impacting its P/E as much as we would have predicted. Right now we are uncomfortable with the P/E as the predicted future earnings aren't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for HMT (Xiamen) New Technical Materials that you should be aware of.

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.