When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 19x, you may consider The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 32.2x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

While the market has experienced earnings growth lately, Charles Schwab's earnings have gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It might be that many expect the dour earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

How Is Charles Schwab's Growth Trending?

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

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 15%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk EPS by 3.1% in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 25% per annum as estimated by the analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 11% each year growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Charles Schwab is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

What We Can Learn From Charles Schwab's P/E?

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 Charles Schwab's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

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

You might be able to find a better investment than Charles Schwab. 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.