When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 17x, you may consider Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (NYSE:HGV) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 23.4x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Hilton Grand Vacations as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

Is There Enough Growth For Hilton Grand Vacations?

Hilton Grand Vacations' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than 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 56%. Unfortunately, that's brought it right back to where it started three years ago with EPS growth being virtually non-existent overall during that time. 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 70% over the next year. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 15% growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Hilton Grand Vacations is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Hilton Grand Vacations' P/E

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 Hilton Grand Vacations maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 3 warning signs for Hilton Grand Vacations (1 is concerning!) that we have uncovered.

You might be able to find a better investment than Hilton Grand Vacations. 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.