Unfortunately for some shareholders, the SThree (LON:STEM) share price has dived 35% in the last thirty days. The recent drop has obliterated the annual return, with the share price now down 28% over that longer period.

Assuming nothing else has changed, a lower share price makes a stock more attractive to potential buyers. While the market sentiment towards a stock is very changeable, in the long run, the share price will tend to move in the same direction as earnings per share. The implication here is that long term investors have an opportunity when expectations of a company are too low. One way to gauge market expectations of a stock is to look at its Price to Earnings Ratio (PE Ratio). A high P/E ratio means that investors have a high expectation about future growth, while a low P/E ratio means they have low expectations about future growth.

See our latest analysis for SThree

Does SThree Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 6.46 that sentiment around SThree isn't particularly high. The image below shows that SThree has a lower P/E than the average (15.3) P/E for companies in the professional services industry.

SThree's P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with SThree, it's quite possible it could surprise on the upside. If you consider the stock interesting, further research is recommended. For example, I often monitor director buying and selling.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

P/E ratios primarily reflect market expectations around earnings growth rates. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. That means even if the current P/E is high, it will reduce over time if the share price stays flat. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

It's great to see that SThree grew EPS by 19% in the last year. And it has bolstered its earnings per share by 20% per year over the last five years. This could arguably justify a relatively high P/E ratio.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

It's important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. The exact same company would hypothetically deserve a higher P/E ratio if it had a strong balance sheet, than if it had a weak one with lots of debt, because a cashed up company can spend on growth.