TruBridge, Inc. (NASDAQ:TBRG) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 26% share price jump in the last month. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 36% in the last year.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, TruBridge may still be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.7x, since almost half of all companies in the Healthcare Services industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 2x and even P/S higher than 5x are not unusual. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

How Has TruBridge Performed Recently?

With revenue growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, TruBridge has been relatively sluggish. Perhaps the market is expecting the current trend of poor revenue growth to continue, which has kept the P/S suppressed. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping revenue doesn't get any worse and that you could pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/S?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's top line as the year before. Still, the latest three year period was better as it's delivered a decent 23% overall rise in revenue. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 3.6% as estimated by the four analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be materially lower than the 8.8% growth forecast for the broader industry.

In light of this, it's understandable that TruBridge's P/S 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.

What Does TruBridge's P/S Mean For Investors?

Despite TruBridge's share price climbing recently, its P/S still lags most other companies. While the price-to-sales ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of revenue expectations.

As expected, our analysis of TruBridge's analyst forecasts confirms that the company's underwhelming revenue outlook is a major contributor to its low P/S. Shareholders' pessimism on the revenue prospects for the company seems to be the main contributor to the depressed P/S. Unless these conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for TruBridge that you should be aware of.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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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.