What is a P/E Ratio? P/E, or price-to-earnings ratio, is probably the most popular analytical tool provided in the stock quote. At a glimpse, it lets you know how the market values a company in relation to its earnings. A higher P/E ratio tends to mean that a company’s stock price is relatively expensive. A lower P/E ratio means the price is relatively inexpensive. The key word here is relatively. P/E ratio is useless on its own; it always needs to be compared, either to other companies of