When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") below 19x, you may consider Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII) as a stock to avoid entirely with its 39.2x P/E ratio. 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.

With earnings growth that's inferior to most other companies of late, Energy Recovery has been relatively sluggish. It might be that many expect the uninspiring earnings performance to recover significantly, which has kept the P/E from collapsing. You'd really hope so, otherwise you're paying a pretty hefty price for no particular reason.

If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report on Energy Recovery.

Is There Enough Growth For Energy Recovery?

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

Retrospectively, the last year delivered a decent 5.3% gain to the company's bottom line. The latest three year period has also seen an excellent 33% overall rise in EPS, aided somewhat by its short-term performance. Therefore, it's fair to say the earnings growth recently has been superb for the company.

Looking ahead now, EPS is anticipated to climb by 83% during the coming year according to the five analysts following the company. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 16%, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Energy Recovery is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. It seems most investors are expecting this strong future growth and are willing to pay more for the stock.

The Bottom Line On Energy Recovery's P/E

Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-earnings ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

We've established that Energy Recovery maintains its high P/E on the strength of its forecast growth being higher than the wider market, as expected. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/E as they are quite confident future earnings aren't under threat. Unless these conditions change, they will continue to provide strong support to the share price.

If you're unsure about the strength of Energy Recovery's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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.