When close to half the companies operating in the Electrical industry in China have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") above 2.2x, you may consider Hsino Tower Group Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601096) as an attractive investment with its 1.6x P/S ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/S.

What Does Hsino Tower Group's Recent Performance Look Like?

Revenue has risen at a steady rate over the last year for Hsino Tower Group, which is generally not a bad outcome. Perhaps the market believes the recent revenue performance might fall short of industry figures in the near future, leading to a reduced P/S. 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 Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like Hsino Tower Group's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 6.1%. This was backed up an excellent period prior to see revenue up by 45% in total over the last three years. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

This is in contrast to the rest of the industry, which is expected to grow by 24% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this in consideration, it's easy to understand why Hsino Tower Group's P/S falls short of the mark set by its industry peers. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the wider industry.

What Does Hsino Tower Group's P/S Mean For Investors?

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

In line with expectations, Hsino Tower Group maintains its low P/S on the weakness of its recent three-year growth being lower than the wider industry forecast. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/S as they concede future revenue probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. If recent medium-term revenue trends continue, it's hard to see the share price experience a reversal of fortunes anytime soon.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 3 warning signs for Hsino Tower Group (2 are significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Of course, profitable companies with a history of great earnings growth are generally safer bets. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.