Looking into the current session, Schnitzer Steel Indus Inc. SCHN is trading at $38.60, after a 7.54% drop. Over the past month, the stock decreased by 16.23%, but over the past year, it actually spiked by 165.29%. With questionable short-term performance like this, and great long-term performance, long-term shareholders might want to start looking into the company's price-to-earnings ratio.

Assuming that all other factors are held constant, this could present itself as an opportunity for shareholders trying to capitalize on the higher share price. The stock is currently below from its 52 week high by 17.63%.

The P/E ratio is used by long-term shareholders to assess the company's market performance against aggregate market data, historical earnings, and the industry at large. A lower P/E indicates that shareholders do not expect the stock to perform better in the future, and that the company is probably undervalued. It shows that shareholders are less than willing to pay a high share price, because they do not expect the company to exhibit growth, in terms of future earnings.

Most often, an industry will prevail in a particular phase of a business cycle, than other industries.

Compared to the aggregate P/E ratio of 32.05 in the Metals & Mining industry, Schnitzer Steel Indus Inc. has a higher P/E ratio of 68.44. Shareholders might be inclined to think that Schnitzer Steel Indus Inc. might perform better than its industry group. It's also possible that the stock is overvalued.

There are many limitations to P/E ratio. It is sometimes difficult to determine the nature of the earnings makeup of a company. Shareholders might not get what they're looking for, from trailing earnings.