Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) shares have continued their recent momentum with a 27% gain in the last month alone. Looking further back, the 22% rise over the last twelve months isn't too bad notwithstanding the strength over the last 30 days.

Following the firm bounce in price, Wynn Resorts may be sending bearish signals at the moment with its price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 25.5x, since almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 18x and even P/E's lower than 11x are not unusual. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the elevated P/E.

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Wynn Resorts 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. If not, then existing shareholders may be extremely nervous about the viability of the share price.

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Is There Enough Growth For Wynn Resorts?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as high as Wynn Resorts' is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 49% decrease to the company's bottom line. This has erased any of its gains during the last three years, with practically no change in EPS being achieved in total. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 9.6% per annum as estimated by the analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 10% each year growth forecast for the broader market.

In light of this, it's curious that Wynn Resorts' P/E sits above the majority of other companies. It seems most investors are ignoring the fairly average growth expectations and are willing to pay up for exposure to the stock. Although, additional gains will be difficult to achieve as this level of earnings growth is likely to weigh down the share price eventually.

The Final Word

Wynn Resorts shares have received a push in the right direction, but its P/E is elevated too. 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.

Our examination of Wynn Resorts' analyst forecasts revealed that its market-matching earnings outlook isn't impacting its high P/E as much as we would have predicted. When we see an average earnings outlook with market-like growth, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the high P/E lower. This places shareholders' investments at risk and potential investors in danger of paying an unnecessary premium.

It is also worth noting that we have found 3 warning signs for Wynn Resorts (1 is potentially serious!) that you need to take into consideration.

Of course, you might also be able to find a better stock than Wynn Resorts. 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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