Investors Appear Satisfied With IDP Education Limited's (ASX:IEL) Prospects As Shares Rocket 28%

IDP Education Limited (ASX:IEL) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great month, posting a 28% gain and recovering from prior weakness. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 31% in the last year.

After such a large jump in price, IDP Education's price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 73x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in Australia, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 19x and even P/E's below 11x are quite common. 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.

IDP Education has been doing a reasonable job lately as its earnings haven't declined as much as most other companies. The P/E is probably high because investors think this comparatively better earnings performance will continue. While you'd prefer that its earnings trajectory turned around, you'd at least be hoping it remains less negative than other companies, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

Check out our latest analysis for IDP Education

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Does Growth Match The High P/E?

The only time you'd be truly comfortable seeing a P/E as steep as IDP Education's is when the company's growth is on track to outshine the market decidedly.

Taking a look back first, we see that there was hardly any earnings per share growth to speak of for the company over the past year. Although pleasingly EPS has lifted 58% in aggregate from three years ago, notwithstanding the last 12 months. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Turning to the outlook, the next three years should generate growth of 27% each year as estimated by the eight analysts watching the company. With the market only predicted to deliver 18% per year, the company is positioned for a stronger earnings result.

With this information, we can see why IDP Education is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From IDP Education's P/E?

The strong share price surge has got IDP Education's P/E rushing to great heights as well. We'd say 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 IDP Education's analyst forecasts revealed that its superior earnings outlook is contributing to its high P/E. 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.

And what about other risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for IDP Education you should know about.

If these risks are making you reconsider your opinion on IDP Education, explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there.

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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