Tiangong International Company Limited (HKG:826) shares have had a really impressive month, gaining 29% after a shaky period beforehand. But the gains over the last month weren't enough to make shareholders whole, as the share price is still down 5.9% in the last twelve months.

Following the firm bounce in price, Tiangong International's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 16.6x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Hong Kong, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 9x and even P/E's below 5x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly elevated P/E.

While the market has experienced earnings growth lately, Tiangong International's earnings have gone into reverse gear, which is not great. It might be that many expect the dour earnings performance to recover substantially, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

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

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Tiangong International would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 21% decrease to the company's bottom line. As a result, earnings from three years ago have also fallen 48% overall. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been undesirable for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 13% per year as estimated by the two analysts watching the company. With the market predicted to deliver 12% growth per annum, the company is positioned for a comparable earnings result.

With this information, we find it interesting that Tiangong International is trading at a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently many investors in the company are more bullish than analysts indicate and aren't willing to let go of their stock right now. These shareholders may be setting themselves up for disappointment if the P/E falls to levels more in line with the growth outlook.

The Bottom Line On Tiangong International's P/E

Tiangong International's P/E is flying high just like its stock has during the last month. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Tiangong International currently trades on a higher than expected P/E since its forecast growth is only in line with the wider market. Right now we are uncomfortable with the relatively high share price as the predicted future earnings aren't likely to support such positive sentiment for long. Unless these conditions improve, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.

A lot of potential risks can sit within a company's balance sheet. Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis for Tiangong International with six simple checks on some of these key factors.

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

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