With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 26.2x EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE:EVTC) may be sending very 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. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for EVERTEC as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for EVERTEC

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

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

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 58%. Regardless, EPS has managed to lift by a handy 11% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Although it's been a bumpy ride, it's still fair to say the earnings growth recently has been mostly respectable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 36% as estimated by the three analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 9.9% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that EVERTEC's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On EVERTEC's P/E

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.

As we suspected, our examination of EVERTEC's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 2 warning signs for EVERTEC that you should be aware of.

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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