Fujian Zitian Media Technology Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300280) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 26% share price drop in the last month. Looking at the bigger picture, even after this poor month the stock is up 79% in the last year.

Following the heavy fall in price, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 28x, you may consider Fujian Zitian Media Technology as an attractive investment with its 17.8x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Fujian Zitian Media Technology as its earnings have been rising very briskly. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, 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.

See our latest analysis for Fujian Zitian Media Technology

How Is Fujian Zitian Media Technology's Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Fujian Zitian Media Technology would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 227%. As a result, it also grew EPS by 7.0% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably been satisfied with the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 42% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Fujian Zitian Media Technology is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.

The Key Takeaway

The softening of Fujian Zitian Media Technology's shares means its P/E is now sitting at a pretty low level. It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Fujian Zitian Media Technology 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.

Having said that, be aware Fujian Zitian Media Technology is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

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.