The Zhejiang Sanfer Electric Co., Ltd (SHSE:605336) 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 34% in that time.

Even after such a large drop in price, Zhejiang Sanfer Electric's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 10.2x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 28x and even P/E's above 50x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

Zhejiang Sanfer Electric has been struggling lately as its earnings have declined faster than most other companies. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. If not, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

How Is Zhejiang Sanfer Electric's Growth Trending?

Zhejiang Sanfer Electric'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, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 5.1%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk EPS by 21% in aggregate. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the one analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 28% over the next year. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 41% growth forecast for the broader market.

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

The Bottom Line On Zhejiang Sanfer Electric's P/E

Zhejiang Sanfer Electric's P/E looks about as weak as its stock price lately. It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

We've established that Zhejiang Sanfer Electric maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Zhejiang Sanfer Electric that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Zhejiang Sanfer Electric. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.