Chengdu Leejun Industrial Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002651) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 27% share price drop in the last month. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 38% in that time.

Even after such a large drop in price, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 28x, you may still consider Chengdu Leejun Industrial as an attractive investment with its 16.9x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's limited.

With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, Chengdu Leejun Industrial has been doing very well. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

How Is Chengdu Leejun Industrial's Growth Trending?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 98% last year. As a result, it also grew EPS by 23% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 42% shows it's noticeably less attractive on an annualised basis.

In light of this, it's understandable that Chengdu Leejun Industrial's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Chengdu Leejun Industrial's P/E

Chengdu Leejun Industrial's recently weak share price has pulled its P/E below most other companies. 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Chengdu Leejun Industrial revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations. 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.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Chengdu Leejun Industrial that you need to take into consideration.

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.