ON Semiconductor Corporation's (NASDAQ:ON) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 17x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 20x and even P/E's above 36x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

ON Semiconductor hasn't been tracking well recently as its declining earnings compare poorly to other companies, which have seen some growth on average. It seems that many are expecting the dour earnings performance to persist, which has repressed the P/E. If this is the case, then existing shareholders will probably struggle to get excited about the future direction of the share price.

How Is ON Semiconductor's Growth Trending?

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

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 20%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 158% overall rise in EPS, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would probably welcome the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 16% per annum over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that ON Semiconductor is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It looks like most investors are not convinced at all that the company can achieve future growth expectations.

The Final Word

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

We've established that ON Semiconductor currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its forecast growth is higher than the wider market. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the positive outlook. At least price risks look to be very low, but investors seem to think future earnings could see a lot of volatility.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for ON Semiconductor with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

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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