Those holding Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group) Co., Ltd. (SHSE:601086) shares would be relieved that the share price has rebounded 28% in the last thirty days, but it needs to keep going to repair the recent damage it has caused to investor portfolios. Notwithstanding the latest gain, the annual share price return of 3.1% isn't as impressive.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, given about half the companies in China have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 30x, you may still consider Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group) as a highly attractive investment with its 14.5x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be quite low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group) as its earnings have been rising very briskly. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group), take a look at this free data-rich visualisation to see how the company stacks up on earnings, revenue and cash flow.

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

Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group)'s P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a terrific increase of 333%. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 188% overall rise in EPS, aided by its short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

It's interesting to note that the rest of the market is similarly expected to grow by 41% over the next year, which is fairly even with the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's peculiar that Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group)'s P/E sits below the majority of other companies. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can maintain recent growth rates.

The Key Takeaway

Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group)'s recent share price jump still sees its P/E sitting firmly flat on the ground. 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 Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group) revealed its three-year earnings trends aren't contributing to its P/E as much as we would have predicted, given they look similar to current market expectations. There could be some unobserved threats to earnings preventing the P/E ratio from matching the company's performance. At least the risk of a price drop looks to be subdued if recent medium-term earnings trends continue, but investors seem to think future earnings could see some volatility.

Before you settle on your opinion, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group) that you should be aware of.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Gansu Guofang Industry & Trade (Group). So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have reasonable P/E ratios and have grown earnings strongly.

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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.