With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 7.1x Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings Limited (HKG:1319) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 10x and even P/E's higher than 20x 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 limited.

For example, consider that Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings' financial performance has been poor lately as its earnings have been in decline. It might be that many expect the disappointing earnings performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/E. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

View our latest analysis for Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings

We don't have analyst forecasts, but you can see how recent trends are setting up the company for the future by checking out our free report on Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings' Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 27%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk EPS by 14% in aggregate. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Weighing that medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market's one-year forecast for expansion of 21% shows it's an unpleasant look.

In light of this, it's understandable that Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings' P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. However, we think shrinking earnings are unlikely to lead to a stable P/E over the longer term, which could set up shareholders for future disappointment. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as recent earnings trends are already weighing down the shares.

The Key Takeaway

It's argued the price-to-earnings ratio is an inferior measure of value within certain industries, but it can be a powerful business sentiment indicator.

As we suspected, our examination of Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term are contributing to its low P/E, given the market is set to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price moving strongly in either direction in the near future under these circumstances.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit Holdings. 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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