Those holding Guangdong South New Media Co.,Ltd. (SZSE:300770) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 28% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 5.6% over the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 31x, you may still consider Guangdong South New MediaLtd as a highly attractive investment with its 13x 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 so limited.

Recent times have been pleasing for Guangdong South New MediaLtd as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, possibly more than the market, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

How Is Guangdong South New MediaLtd's Growth Trending?

Guangdong South New MediaLtd'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.

If we review the last year of earnings, the company posted a result that saw barely any deviation from a year ago. Regardless, EPS has managed to lift by a handy 24% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 9.2% during the coming year according to the four analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 41%, which is noticeably more attractive.

With this information, we can see why Guangdong South New MediaLtd is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

Even after such a strong price move, Guangdong South New MediaLtd's P/E still trails the rest of the market significantly. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Guangdong South New MediaLtd's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 1 warning sign for Guangdong South New MediaLtd that we have uncovered.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Guangdong South New MediaLtd. 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.