The Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (SHSE:603998) share price has fared very poorly over the last month, falling by a substantial 29%. Longer-term shareholders would now have taken a real hit with the stock declining 7.9% in the last year.

Since its price has dipped substantially, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 28x, you may consider Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical as an attractive investment with its 21.1x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical has been very sluggish. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. If you still like the company, you'd want its earnings trajectory to turn around before making any decisions. If not, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 37%. However, a few very strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 127% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 22% as estimated by the only analyst watching the company. With the market predicted to deliver 41% growth , the company is positioned for a weaker earnings result.

With this information, we can see why Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical 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 Bottom Line On Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical's P/E

Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical's P/E has taken a tumble along with its share price. Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

As we suspected, our examination of Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Hunan Fangsheng Pharmaceutical that you should be aware of.

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.