When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 18x, you may consider HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 75.2x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

Recent times have been pleasing for HEICO as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. It seems that many are expecting the company to continue defying the broader market adversity, which has increased investors' willingness to pay up for the stock. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

How Is HEICO's Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as HEICO's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 19% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 66% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 15% per annum as estimated by the analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10% per year, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why HEICO is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From HEICO's P/E?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

We've established that HEICO maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

You always need to take note of risks, for example - HEICO has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

You might be able to find a better investment than HEICO. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.