Leader Education Limited (HKG:1449) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 28% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground.    The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 28%.  

Although its price has surged higher, Leader Education's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 4.1x might still make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 10x and even P/E's above 19x are quite common.  Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so limited.  

The recent earnings growth at Leader Education would have to be considered satisfactory if not spectacular.   It might be that many expect the respectable earnings performance to degrade, which has repressed the P/E.  If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.    

View our latest analysis for Leader Education

SEHK:1449 Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry January 3rd 2024

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Leader Education's earnings, revenue and cash flow.  

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?  

Leader Education'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 growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 2.8%.   Still, EPS has barely risen at all in aggregate from three years ago, which is not ideal.  Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.  

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 23% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Leader Education is trading at a P/E lower than the market.  It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.  

What We Can Learn From Leader Education's P/E?

Leader Education's recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground.      We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Leader Education revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations.  At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio.  Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.    

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Leader Education that you need to be mindful of.  

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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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.