Inventronics (Hangzhou), Inc. (SZSE:300582) shareholders that were waiting for something to happen have been dealt a blow with a 39% share price drop in the last month. The recent drop has obliterated the annual return, with the share price now down 2.3% over that longer period.

Following the heavy fall in price, Inventronics (Hangzhou) may be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 21.3x, since almost half of all companies in China have P/E ratios greater than 27x and even P/E's higher than 46x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Inventronics (Hangzhou) could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. The P/E is probably low because investors think this poor earnings performance isn't going to get any better. If you still like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

Check out our latest analysis for Inventronics (Hangzhou)

How Is Inventronics (Hangzhou)'s Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Inventronics (Hangzhou) would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 14% decrease to the company's bottom line. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 117% overall rise in EPS, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. Accordingly, while they would have preferred to keep the run going, shareholders would probably welcome the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the one analyst covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 103% over the next year. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 35%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we find it odd that Inventronics (Hangzhou) is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently some shareholders are doubtful of the forecasts and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Bottom Line On Inventronics (Hangzhou)'s P/E

Inventronics (Hangzhou)'s P/E has taken a tumble along with its share price. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn't be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it's quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

Our examination of Inventronics (Hangzhou)'s analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook isn't contributing to its P/E anywhere near as much as we would have predicted. There could be some major unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the positive outlook. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because these conditions should normally provide a boost to the share price.

Having said that, be aware Inventronics (Hangzhou) is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, you should know about.

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

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