With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 31.1x The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) may be sending very bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 18x and even P/E's lower than 10x are not unusual. 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.

Ensign Group could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think this poor earnings performance will turn the corner. If not, then existing shareholders may be extremely nervous about the viability of the share price.

See our latest analysis for Ensign Group

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

Is There Enough Growth For Ensign Group?

Ensign Group's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very strong growth, and importantly, perform much better than the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 5.0%. That put a dampener on the good run it was having over the longer-term as its three-year EPS growth is still a noteworthy 19% in total. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 29% during the coming year according to the six analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 15%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Ensign Group is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

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.

We've established that Ensign Group 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. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

Many other vital risk factors can be found on the company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Ensign Group with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

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

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