With Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) It Looks Like You'll Get What You Pay For

Royalty Pharma plc's (NASDAQ:RPRX) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 41.8x might make it look like a strong sell right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios below 16x and even P/E's below 9x are quite common. 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.

Recent times haven't been advantageous for Royalty Pharma as its earnings have been rising slower than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/E is high because investors think this lacklustre earnings performance will improve markedly. If not, then existing shareholders may be very nervous about the viability of the share price.

Check out our latest analysis for Royalty Pharma

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Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Royalty Pharma will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/E?

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

If we review the last year of earnings growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 13%. However, this wasn't enough as the latest three year period has seen an unpleasant 97% overall drop in EPS. So unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that the company has not done a great job of growing earnings over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the five analysts covering the company suggest earnings should grow by 36% each year over the next three years. Meanwhile, the rest of the market is forecast to only expand by 12% per annum, which is noticeably less attractive.

With this information, we can see why Royalty Pharma is trading at such a high P/E compared to the market. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

What We Can Learn From Royalty Pharma'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 Royalty Pharma 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.

Don't forget that there may be other risks. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Royalty Pharma that you should be aware of.

You might be able to find a better investment than Royalty Pharma. If you want a selection of possible candidates, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20x (but have proven they can grow earnings).

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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.