Siebert Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:SIEB) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 26% share price jump in the last month. Taking a wider view, although not as strong as the last month, the full year gain of 10% is also fairly reasonable.

In spite of the firm bounce in price, Siebert Financial’s price-to-earnings (or “P/E”) ratio of 14.2x might still make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 18x and even P/E’s above 33x are quite common. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it’s justified.

With earnings growth that’s exceedingly strong of late, Siebert Financial has been doing very well. 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 you like the company, you’d be hoping this isn’t the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it’s out of favour.

See our latest analysis for Siebert Financial

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Is There Any Growth For Siebert Financial?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Siebert Financial would need to produce sluggish growth that’s trailing the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 320% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 94% in total over the last three years. Therefore, it’s fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Weighing that recent medium-term earnings trajectory against the broader market’s one-year forecast for expansion of 11% shows it’s noticeably more attractive on an annualised basis.

In light of this, it’s peculiar that Siebert Financial’s P/E sits below the majority of other companies. Apparently some shareholders believe the recent performance has exceeded its limits and have been accepting significantly lower selling prices.

The Final Word

Despite Siebert Financial’s shares building up a head of steam, its P/E still lags most other companies. While the price-to-earnings ratio shouldn’t be the defining factor in whether you buy a stock or not, it’s quite a capable barometer of earnings expectations.

We’ve established that Siebert Financial currently trades on a much lower than expected P/E since its recent three-year growth is higher than the wider market forecast. When we see strong earnings with faster-than-market growth, we assume potential risks are what might be placing significant pressure on the P/E ratio. It appears many are indeed anticipating earnings instability, because the persistence of these recent medium-term conditions would normally provide a boost to the share price.

Before you take the next step, you should know about the 4 warning signs for Siebert Financial (1 is significant!) that we have uncovered.

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

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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.