When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 16x, you may consider Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 22.6x 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 as high as it is.

Recent times have been pleasing for Air Products and Chemicals as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. It seems that many are expecting the company to continue defying the broader market adversity, which has increased investors' willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Air Products and Chemicals would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 3.2% gain to the company's bottom line. The solid recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 22% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 16% per annum as estimated by the analysts watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 10% each year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Air Products and Chemicals is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

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.

We've established that Air Products and Chemicals maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Air Products and Chemicals you should know about.

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.