With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 23.5x TTEC Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 16x and even P/E's lower than 9x are not unusual. 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 haven't been advantageous for TTEC Holdings 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. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

See our latest analysis for TTEC Holdings

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, TTEC Holdings would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 63% decrease to the company's bottom line. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 61% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the seven analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 5.2% over the next year. That's not great when the rest of the market is expected to grow by 10%.

With this information, we find it concerning that TTEC Holdings is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects, but the analyst cohort is not so confident this will happen. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as these declining earnings are likely to weigh heavily on the share price eventually.

What We Can Learn From TTEC Holdings' P/E?

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.

Our examination of TTEC Holdings' analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings isn't impacting its high P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted. When we see a poor outlook with earnings heading backwards, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. Unless these conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 5 warning signs for TTEC Holdings (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than TTEC Holdings. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.