Hualan Biological Vaccine Inc.'s (SZSE:301207) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 13.5x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 26x and even P/E's above 50x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Hualan Biological Vaccine certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, 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 Hualan Biological Vaccine's Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Hualan Biological Vaccine would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 30% last year. Still, incredibly EPS has fallen 23% in total from three years ago, which is quite disappointing. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 25% per year during the coming three years according to the two analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 23% each year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we find it odd that Hualan Biological Vaccine is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting lower selling prices.

The Key Takeaway

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.

Our examination of Hualan Biological Vaccine's analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook isn't contributing to its P/E as much as we would have predicted. There could be some unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the outlook. It appears some are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because these conditions should normally provide more support to the share price.

Having said that, be aware Hualan Biological Vaccine is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

If you're unsure about the strength of Hualan Biological Vaccine'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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