When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 16x, you may consider Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ:HURN) as a stock to potentially avoid with its 22.1x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Huron Consulting Group as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will turn things around completely and accelerate past most others in the market. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

See our latest analysis for Huron Consulting Group

Is There Enough Growth For Huron Consulting Group?

Huron Consulting Group's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver solid growth, and importantly, perform better than the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 7.2% decrease to the company's bottom line. Unfortunately, that's brought it right back to where it started three years ago with EPS growth being virtually non-existent overall during that time. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 21% as estimated by the four analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10%, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Huron Consulting Group's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From Huron Consulting Group'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.

As we suspected, our examination of Huron Consulting Group's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Huron Consulting Group that you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of Huron Consulting Group's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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.