Yahoo Finance Could The Market Be Wrong About Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Given Its Attractive Financial Prospects?
It is hard to get excited after looking at Metro's (TSE:MRU) recent performance, when its stock has declined 5.1% over the past month. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Metro's ROE today.
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
Check out our latest analysis for Metro
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
ROE can be calculated by using the formula:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Metro is:
15% = CA$1.0b ÷ CA$6.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every CA$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CA$0.15 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.
Metro's Earnings Growth And 15% ROE
At first glance, Metro seems to have a decent ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 17% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This probably goes some way in explaining Metro's moderate 8.3% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.
As a next step, we compared Metro's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 9.2% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is MRU worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether MRU is currently mispriced by the market.
Is Metro Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Metro has a three-year median payout ratio of 30%, which implies that it retains the remaining 70% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.
Besides, Metro has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 30%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 14%.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that Metro's performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
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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.
