Interra Resources Limited (SGX:5GI) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 34% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 54% in the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, Interra Resources' price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 8.3x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in Singapore, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 12x and even P/E's above 22x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/E.

As an illustration, earnings have deteriorated at Interra Resources over the last year, which is not ideal at all. It might be that many expect the disappointing earnings performance to continue or accelerate, 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 Interra Resources' Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Interra Resources' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 74%. This has erased any of its gains during the last three years, with practically no change in EPS being achieved in total. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 12% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Interra Resources is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.

The Key Takeaway

Despite Interra Resources' shares building up a head of steam, its P/E still lags most other companies. We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

We've established that Interra Resources maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its recent three-year growth being lower than the wider market forecast, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Plus, you should also learn about these 4 warning signs we've spotted with Interra Resources.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.