Unfortunately for some shareholders, the Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) share price has dived 25% in the last thirty days, prolonging recent pain. Instead of being rewarded, shareholders who have already held through the last twelve months are now sitting on a 21% share price drop.

After such a large drop in price, Orion may be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 12.5x, since almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios greater than 18x and even P/E's higher than 32x 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 limited.

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, Orion has been very sluggish. It seems that many are expecting the dismal earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. Or at the very least, you'd be hoping the earnings slide doesn't get any worse if your plan is to pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

How Is Orion's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Orion's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 31% decrease to the company's bottom line. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 38% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 1.9% during the coming year according to the five analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 15% growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Orion's P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on while the company is potentially eyeing a less prosperous future.

The Bottom Line On Orion's P/E

Orion's P/E has taken a tumble along with its share price. 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 Orion'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.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Orion 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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