It's not a stretch to say that Best Buy Co., Inc.'s (NYSE:BBY) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 16.6x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in the United States, where the median P/E ratio is around 18x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/E without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

With only a limited decrease in earnings compared to most other companies of late, Best Buy has been doing relatively well. One possibility is that the P/E is moderate because investors think this relatively better earnings performance might be about to evaporate. You'd much rather the company wasn't bleeding earnings if you still believe in the business. In saying that, existing shareholders probably aren't too pessimistic about the share price if the company's earnings continue outplaying the market.

Keen to find out how analysts think Best Buy's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The P/E?

Best Buy's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver moderate growth, and importantly, perform in line with the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered virtually the same number to the company's bottom line as the year before. The lack of growth did nothing to help the company's aggregate three-year performance, which is an unsavory 41% drop in EPS. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 11% each year over the next three years. That's shaping up to be similar to the 10% per annum growth forecast for the broader market.

With this information, we can see why Best Buy is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see average future growth and are only willing to pay a moderate amount for the stock.

The Key Takeaway

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 Best Buy's analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook is contributing to its current P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement or deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a high or low P/E ratio. 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 Best Buy is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis, you should know about.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on Best Buy, 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.