The St. Joe Company's (NYSE:JOE) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 41.4x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 16x and even P/E's below 9x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Earnings have risen firmly for St. Joe recently, which is pleasing to see. It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to beat most other companies over the coming period, which has increased investors' willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

How Is St. Joe's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as St. Joe's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow earnings per share by a handy 10% last year. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see EPS up by 74% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Comparing that to the market, which is only predicted to deliver 11% growth in the next 12 months, the company's momentum is stronger based on recent medium-term annualised earnings results.

In light of this, it's understandable that St. Joe's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Presumably shareholders aren't keen to offload something they believe will continue to outmanoeuvre the bourse.

The Bottom Line On St. Joe's P/E

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that St. Joe maintains its high P/E on the strength of its recent three-year growth being higher than the wider market forecast, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident earnings aren't under threat. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

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

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

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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.