Hebei Construction Group Corporation Limited (HKG:1727) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 26% share price jump in the last month. The bad news is that even after the stocks recovery in the last 30 days, shareholders are still underwater by about 3.1% over the last year.

Even after such a large jump in price, given about half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 10x, you may still consider Hebei Construction Group as an attractive investment with its 5.6x 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 limited.

For instance, Hebei Construction Group's receding earnings in recent times would have to be some food for thought. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think the company won't do enough to avoid underperforming the broader market in the near future. If you 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 Hebei Construction Group

Although there are no analyst estimates available for Hebei Construction 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?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as Hebei Construction Group's is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

Taking a look back first, the company's earnings per share growth last year wasn't something to get excited about as it posted a disappointing decline of 36%. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 76% overall. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to grow by 23% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term earnings decline into perspective.

In light of this, it's understandable that Hebei Construction Group's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent earnings trends are already weighing down the shares.

What We Can Learn From Hebei Construction Group's P/E?

Hebei Construction Group's stock might have been given a solid boost, but its P/E certainly hasn't reached any great heights. We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

We've established that Hebei Construction Group maintains its low P/E on the weakness of its sliding earnings over the medium-term, as expected. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 2 warning signs for Hebei Construction Group that you need to be mindful of.

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

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