With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 19.8x Hess Midstream LP (NYSE:HESM) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 17x and even P/E's lower than 10x are not unusual. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's as high as it is.

Hess Midstream certainly has been doing a good job lately as its earnings growth has been positive while most other companies have been seeing their earnings go backwards. The P/E is probably high because investors think the company will continue to navigate the broader market headwinds better than most. If not, then existing shareholders might be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

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Does Growth Match The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Hess Midstream would need to produce impressive growth in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 16% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen a 15% overall rise in EPS, aided extensively by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has actually done a good job of growing earnings over that time.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 14% each year during the coming three years according to the six analysts following the company. That's shaping up to be materially higher than the 10% per annum growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's understandable that Hess Midstream's P/E sits above the majority of other companies. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Final Word

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.

We've established that Hess Midstream maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Hess Midstream that you need to take into consideration.

If you're unsure about the strength of Hess Midstream's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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