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IES Holdings, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:IESC) Shares Lagging The Market But So Is The Business

When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 19x, you may consider IES Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:IESC) as an attractive investment with its 16.4x 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 limited.

With earnings growth that's exceedingly strong of late, IES Holdings has been doing very well. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If that doesn't eventuate, then existing shareholders have reason to be quite optimistic about the future direction of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for IES Holdings

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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 IES Holdings' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as low as IES Holdings' is when the company's growth is on track to lag the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 39% last year. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen a very unpleasant 68% drop in EPS in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Comparing that to the market, which is predicted to deliver 3.2% growth in the next 12 months, the company's downward momentum based on recent medium-term earnings results is a sobering picture.

With this information, we are not surprised that IES Holdings is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

What We Can Learn From IES Holdings' P/E?

The price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of IES Holdings revealed its shrinking earnings over the medium-term are contributing to its low P/E, given the market is set to grow. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, they will continue to form a barrier for the share price around these levels.

You should always think about risks. Case in point, we've spotted 3 warning signs for IES Holdings you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly and trade on P/E's below 20x.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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