When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 18x, you may consider Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 48.6x 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 so lofty.

Werner Enterprises could be doing better as its earnings have been going backwards lately while most other companies have been seeing positive earnings growth. 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.

View our latest analysis for Werner Enterprises

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Werner Enterprises.

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

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Werner Enterprises would need to produce outstanding growth well in excess of 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 69%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk EPS by 79% in aggregate. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 48% per year over the next three years. With the market only predicted to deliver 11% per year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

In light of this, it's understandable that Werner Enterprises' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Werner Enterprises' P/E

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 Werner Enterprises maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. At this stage investors feel the potential for a deterioration in earnings isn't great enough to justify a lower P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price falling strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Werner Enterprises (1 can't be ignored) you should be aware of.

It's important to make sure you look for a great company, not just the first idea you come across. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a low P/E).

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