When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 18x, you may consider Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 36.1x P/E ratio. Although, it's not wise to just take the P/E at face value as there may be an explanation why it's so lofty.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Flowers Foods as its earnings have been falling quicker than most other companies. It might be that many expect the dismal earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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Does Growth Match The High P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Flowers Foods would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 42% decrease to the company's bottom line. This means it has also seen a slide in earnings over the longer-term as EPS is down 43% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 101% during the coming year according to the eight analysts following the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 15%, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

In light of this, it's understandable that Flowers Foods' 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.

What We Can Learn From Flowers Foods' 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 Flowers Foods 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 4 warning signs for Flowers Foods that you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of Flowers Foods' 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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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.