When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 19x, you may consider Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) as an attractive investment with its 15.5x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/E.

Recent times have been advantageous for Gentex as its earnings have been rising faster than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings performance might be less impressive moving forward. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

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

Taking a look back first, we see that the company managed to grow earnings per share by a handy 11% last year. The latest three year period has also seen a 8.0% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 11% each year as estimated by the eleven analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 11% per year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we find it odd that Gentex is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Final Word

While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

We've established that Gentex currently trades on a lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is in line with the wider market. There could be some unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the outlook. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued, but investors seem to think future earnings could see some volatility.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Gentex with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

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.