Oppein Home Group Inc.'s (SHSE:603833) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 14.1x might make it look like a strong buy right now compared to the market in China, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 31x and even P/E's above 57x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

Recent times have been pleasing for Oppein Home Group as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. 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.

How Is Oppein Home Group's Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Oppein Home Group would need to produce anemic growth that's substantially trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 18% gain to the company's bottom line. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 53% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 12% during the coming year according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 41%, which is noticeably more attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that Oppein Home Group's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting to see limited future growth and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Final Word

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 Oppein Home Group's analyst forecasts revealed that its inferior earnings outlook is contributing to its low P/E. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Oppein Home Group you should know about.

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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