With a median price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of close to 17x in the United States, you could be forgiven for feeling indifferent about Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s (NYSE:DRI) P/E ratio of 18x. While this might not raise any eyebrows, if the P/E ratio is not justified investors could be missing out on a potential opportunity or ignoring looming disappointment.

Recent times have been pleasing for Darden Restaurants as its earnings have risen in spite of the market's earnings going into reverse. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to deteriorate like the rest, which has kept the P/E from rising. If not, then existing shareholders have reason to be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Darden Restaurants.

How Is Darden Restaurants' Growth Trending?

The only time you'd be comfortable seeing a P/E like Darden Restaurants' is when the company's growth is tracking the market closely.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 11%. Still, EPS has barely risen at all in aggregate from three years ago, which is not ideal. So it appears to us that the company has had a mixed result in terms of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 10% per annum during the coming three years according to the analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to expand by 11% per year, which is not materially different.

With this information, we can see why Darden Restaurants is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. Apparently shareholders are comfortable to simply hold on while the company is keeping a low profile.

What We Can Learn From Darden Restaurants' P/E?

Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

As we suspected, our examination of Darden Restaurants' analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook is contributing to its current P/E. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings won't throw up any surprises. It's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

Having said that, be aware Darden Restaurants is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Darden Restaurants, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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.