There Is A Reason Metals X Limited's (ASX:MLX) Price Is Undemanding

With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 10.7x Metals X Limited (ASX:MLX) may be sending bullish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in Australia have P/E ratios greater than 18x and even P/E's higher than 36x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Recent times have been quite advantageous for Metals X as its earnings have been rising very briskly. One possibility is that the P/E is low because investors think this strong earnings growth might actually underperform the broader market in the near future. 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 Metals X

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Want the full picture on earnings, revenue and cash flow for the company? Then our free report on Metals X will help you shine a light on its historical performance.

Is There Any Growth For Metals X?

Metals X's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 448% last year. However, the latest three year period hasn't been as great in aggregate as it didn't manage to provide any growth at all. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

This is in contrast to the rest of the market, which is expected to grow by 23% over the next year, materially higher than the company's recent medium-term annualised growth rates.

With this information, we can see why Metals X is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Apparently many shareholders weren't comfortable holding on to something they believe will continue to trail the bourse.

What We Can Learn From Metals X's P/E?

Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-earnings ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.

As we suspected, our examination of Metals X 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. If recent medium-term earnings trends continue, it's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 2 warning signs for Metals X (1 is concerning!) that we have uncovered.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with a strong growth track record, trading on a P/E below 20x.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.