Stock Market Investors » Glossary of Stock Terms » What is a Price Earnings Ratio?

What is a Price to Earnings Ratio?

When you decide on the investment in a particular stock you should make a careful examination of its indicators. One of them is its price/earnings ratio (P/E). This ratio shows the relationship between the price of the stock and the earnings that the company makes. In order to find the P/E of a company you should divide the current price of the stock by the earnings per share the company has annually.

A high value of a stock's P/E indicates higher expectations of investors regarding the growth of the company. This also means that investors are willing to pay a higher premium for the growth that the company will experience in the future.

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