CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 26% gain in the last month alone. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 21% is also fairly reasonable.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, it's still not a stretch to say that CoreCivic's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 13.4x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in the United States, where the median P/E ratio is around 15x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/E ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, CoreCivic has been doing very well. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to wane, which has kept the P/E from rising. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

See our latest analysis for CoreCivic

How Is CoreCivic's Growth Trending?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 44% gain to the company's bottom line. Still, EPS has barely risen at all from three years ago in total, which is not ideal. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 9.3% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is weaker based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

With this information, we find it interesting that CoreCivic is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly limited recent growth rates and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. They may be setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with recent growth rates.

The Final Word

CoreCivic's stock has a lot of momentum behind it lately, which has brought its P/E level with the market. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that CoreCivic currently trades on a higher than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is lower than the wider market forecast. Right now we are uncomfortable with the P/E as this earnings performance isn't likely to support a more positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 3 warning signs for CoreCivic (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.