Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy Group Co.,Ltd. (SHSE:600475) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 34% after a shaky period beforehand. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 5.0% over the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd may still be sending very bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 13.8x, since almost half of all companies in China have P/E ratios greater than 30x and even P/E's higher than 55x are not unusual. 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.

Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd 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.

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

Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any earnings per share growth to speak of for the company over the past year. However, a few strong years before that means that it was still able to grow EPS by an impressive 42% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 23% during the coming year according to the three analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 41% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd'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 Key Takeaway

Even after such a strong price move, Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd's P/E still trails the rest of the market significantly. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd'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.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd that you need to take into consideration.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Wuxi Huaguang Environment & Energy GroupLtd, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.