The Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600267) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 27%. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 38% in that time.

Following the heavy fall in price, Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical may be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 13.8x, since almost half of all companies in China have P/E ratios greater than 28x and even P/E's higher than 50x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

With its earnings growth in positive territory compared to the declining earnings of most other companies, Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical has been doing quite well of late. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, possibly more than the market, 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.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 98%. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year EPS growth being relatively non-existent overall. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to slump, contracting by 1.2% during the coming year according to the two analysts following the company. That's not great when the rest of the market is expected to grow by 41%.

In light of this, it's understandable that Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Bottom Line On Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical's P/E

Shares in Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical have plummeted and its P/E is now low enough to touch the ground. 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 Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.