SF Oilless Bearing Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300817) shares have had a horrible month, losing 27% after a relatively good period beforehand. The drop over the last 30 days has capped off a tough year for shareholders, with the share price down 26% in that time.

Although its price has dipped substantially, given around half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 29x, you may still consider SF Oilless Bearing Group as a stock to potentially avoid with its 35x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

For example, consider that SF Oilless Bearing Group's financial performance has been poor lately as its earnings have been in decline. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think the company will still do enough to outperform the broader market in the near future. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

See our latest analysis for SF Oilless Bearing Group

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

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

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 13%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 4.3% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to grow by 42% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term earnings decline into perspective.

With this information, we find it concerning that SF Oilless Bearing Group is trading at a P/E higher than the market. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. There's a very good chance existing shareholders are setting themselves up for future disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with the recent negative growth rates.

The Key Takeaway

There's still some solid strength behind SF Oilless Bearing Group's P/E, if not its share price lately. 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 SF Oilless Bearing Group currently trades on a much higher than expected P/E since its recent earnings have been in decline over the medium-term. Right now we are increasingly uncomfortable with the high P/E as this earnings performance is highly unlikely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve markedly, it's very challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

It's always necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with SF Oilless Bearing Group (at least 1 which can't be ignored), and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

You might be able to find a better investment than SF Oilless Bearing Group. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.