It's not a stretch to say that Beacon Minerals Limited's (ASX:BCN) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 18.7x right now seems quite "middle-of-the-road" compared to the market in Australia, where the median P/E ratio is around 18x. Although, it's not wise to simply ignore the P/E without explanation as investors may be disregarding a distinct opportunity or a costly mistake.

For instance, Beacon Minerals' receding earnings in recent times would have to be some food for thought. It might be that many expect the company to put the disappointing earnings performance behind them over the coming period, which has kept the P/E from falling. If not, then existing shareholders may be a little nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Beacon Minerals

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 Beacon Minerals' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Is Beacon Minerals' Growth Trending?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Beacon Minerals would need to produce growth that's similar to the market.

If we review the last year of earnings, dishearteningly the company's profits fell to the tune of 66%. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk EPS by 79% in aggregate. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

In contrast to the company, the rest of the market is expected to grow by 20% over the next year, which really puts the company's recent medium-term earnings decline into perspective.

With this information, we find it concerning that Beacon Minerals is trading at a fairly similar P/E to the market. It seems most investors are ignoring the recent poor growth rate and are hoping for a turnaround in the company's business prospects. Only the boldest would assume these prices are sustainable as a continuation of recent earnings trends is likely to weigh on the share price eventually.

The Bottom Line On Beacon Minerals' P/E

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.

We've established that Beacon Minerals currently trades on a higher than expected P/E since its recent earnings have been in decline over the medium-term. When we see earnings heading backwards and underperforming the market forecasts, we suspect the share price is at risk of declining, sending the moderate P/E lower. Unless the recent medium-term conditions improve, it's challenging to accept these prices as being reasonable.