With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 2.6x Man Shing Global Holdings Limited (HKG:8309) may be sending very bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Hong Kong have P/E ratios greater than 11x and even P/E's higher than 22x 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 limited.

As an illustration, earnings have deteriorated at Man Shing Global Holdings over the last year, which is not ideal at all. 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. However, if this doesn't eventuate then existing shareholders may be feeling optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Man Shing Global 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 Man Shing Global Holdings' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Man Shing Global Holdings' Growth Trending?

Man Shing Global Holdings' P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's expected to deliver very poor growth or even falling earnings, and importantly, perform much worse than the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 31%. Still, the latest three year period has seen an excellent 33% overall rise in EPS, in spite of its unsatisfying short-term performance. So we can start by confirming that the company has generally done a very good job of growing earnings over that time, even though it had some hiccups along the way.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 21% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Man Shing Global Holdings is trading at a P/E lower than the market. It seems most investors are expecting to see the recent limited growth rates continue into the future and are only willing to pay a reduced amount for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Man Shing Global Holdings' 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.

As we suspected, our examination of Man Shing Global Holdings revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations. 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 rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Plus, you should also learn about this 1 warning sign we've spotted with Man Shing Global Holdings.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

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