Those holding QiaoYin City Management Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002973) 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. But the gains over the last month weren't enough to make shareholders whole, as the share price is still down 9.1% in the last twelve months.

Although its price has surged higher, QiaoYin City Management's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 11.7x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 33x and even P/E's above 60x are quite common. 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.

With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, QiaoYin City Management has been doing relatively well. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. 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 QiaoYin City Management's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as depressed as QiaoYin City Management's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 57% gain to the company's bottom line. As a result, it also grew EPS by 10% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 14% during the coming year according to the two analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 40% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why QiaoYin City Management 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.

The Key Takeaway

Shares in QiaoYin City Management are going to need a lot more upward momentum to get the company's P/E out of its slump. 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 QiaoYin City Management maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider market, as expected. 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.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 3 warning signs for QiaoYin City Management (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

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.