With a median price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of close to 17x in the United States, you could be forgiven for feeling indifferent about International Game Technology PLC's (NYSE:IGT) P/E ratio of 18.6x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/E without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

Recent times have been pleasing for International Game Technology 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 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.

How Is International Game Technology's Growth Trending?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should be matching the market for P/E ratios like International Game Technology's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 3.7%. Although, the latest three year period in total hasn't been as good as it didn't manage to provide any growth at all. 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 seven analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 20% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10.0% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's curious that International Game Technology's P/E sits in line with the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders are skeptical of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.

What We Can Learn From International Game Technology's P/E?

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.

Our examination of International Game Technology's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook isn't contributing to its P/E as much as we would have predicted. When we see a strong earnings outlook with faster-than-market growth, we assume potential risks are what might be placing pressure on the P/E ratio. It appears some are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 2 warning signs for International Game Technology (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

You might be able to find a better investment than International Game Technology. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.