When close to half the companies in Hong Kong have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 12x, you may consider Huili Resources (Group) Limited (HKG:1303) as a highly attractive investment with its 4x P/E ratio. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the highly reduced P/E.

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As an illustration, earnings have deteriorated at Huili Resources (Group) over the last year, which is not ideal at all. It might be that many expect the disappointing earnings performance to continue or accelerate, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

See our latest analysis for Huili Resources (Group)

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 Huili Resources (Group)'s earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Is There Any Growth For Huili Resources (Group)?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should far underperform the market for P/E ratios like Huili Resources (Group)'s to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 31%. At least EPS has managed not to go completely backwards from three years ago in aggregate, thanks to the earlier period of growth. Therefore, it's fair to say that earnings growth has been inconsistent recently for the company.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 20% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

In light of this, it's understandable that Huili Resources (Group)'s P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.

What We Can Learn From Huili Resources (Group)'s P/E?

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.

As we suspected, our examination of Huili Resources (Group) revealed its three-year earnings trends are contributing to its low P/E, given they look worse than current market expectations. Right now shareholders are accepting the low P/E as they concede future earnings probably won't provide any pleasant surprises. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 2 warning signs for Huili Resources (Group) that we have uncovered.

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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