The China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. (SHSE:601858) share price has softened a substantial 26% over the previous 30 days, handing back much of the gains the stock has made lately. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 39% in that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, China Science Publishing & Media may still be sending bearish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 36.8x, since almost half of all companies in China have P/E ratios under 29x and even P/E's lower than 18x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/E.

Recent earnings growth for China Science Publishing & Media has been in line with the market. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think this modest earnings performance will accelerate. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

How Is China Science Publishing & Media's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the market for P/E ratios like China Science Publishing & Media's to be considered reasonable.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any earnings per share growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Whilst it's an improvement, it wasn't enough to get the company out of the hole it was in, with earnings down 1.2% overall from three years ago. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 13% as estimated by the one analyst watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 35% growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we find it concerning that China Science Publishing & Media is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. There's a good chance these shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

The Final Word

Despite the recent share price weakness, China Science Publishing & Media's P/E remains higher than 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 China Science Publishing & Media currently trades on a much higher than expected P/E since its forecast growth is lower than the wider market. When we see a weak earnings outlook with slower than market growth, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. Unless these conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with China Science Publishing & Media, and understanding should be part of your investment process.

If you're unsure about the strength of China Science Publishing & Media's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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