When close to half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 32x, you may consider ChenGuang Biotech Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300138) as a highly attractive investment with its 12.4x 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 so limited.

ChenGuang Biotech Group certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company's earnings are going to fall away like everyone else's soon. 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.

See our latest analysis for ChenGuang Biotech Group

How Is ChenGuang Biotech Group's Growth Trending?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 16% gain to the company's bottom line. Pleasingly, EPS has also lifted 85% in aggregate from three years ago, thanks to the last 12 months of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 19% during the coming year according to the seven analysts following the company. With the market predicted to deliver 42% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why ChenGuang Biotech Group is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less 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 ChenGuang Biotech Group maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its forecast growth being lower than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 1 warning sign for ChenGuang Biotech Group that we have uncovered.

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.