LendingClub Corporation (NYSE:LC) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 49% after a shaky period beforehand. The last 30 days bring the annual gain to a very sharp 65%.

After such a large jump in price, LendingClub may be sending very bearish signals at the moment with a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 33.1x, since almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 18x and even P/E's lower than 10x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be quite high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, LendingClub has been very sluggish. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

Does Growth Match The High P/E?

LendingClub's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 55%. At least EPS has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 37% per annum as estimated by the nine analysts watching the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 10% each year, which is noticeably less attractive.

In light of this, it's understandable that LendingClub's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On LendingClub's P/E

Shares in LendingClub have built up some good momentum lately, which has really inflated its P/E. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that LendingClub maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 2 warning signs for LendingClub that you should be aware of.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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