Yahoo Finance Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc's (LON:AMS) Stock Has Shown A Decent Performance: Have Financials A Role To Play?
Advanced Medical Solutions Group's (LON:AMS) stock up by 9.8% over the past three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to investigate if the company's decent financials had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study Advanced Medical Solutions Group's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
See our latest analysis for Advanced Medical Solutions Group
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Advanced Medical Solutions Group is:
7.0% = UK£14m ÷ UK£198m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every £1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn £0.07 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Advanced Medical Solutions Group's Earnings Growth And 7.0% ROE
At first glance, Advanced Medical Solutions Group's ROE doesn't look very promising. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.9%. Even so, Advanced Medical Solutions Group has shown a fairly decent growth in its net income which grew at a rate of 6.5%. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Advanced Medical Solutions Group's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 27% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is AMS fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.
Is Advanced Medical Solutions Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Advanced Medical Solutions Group's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 13% (implying that it retains 87% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.
Besides, Advanced Medical Solutions Group has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 19% over the next three years. Regardless, the future ROE for Advanced Medical Solutions Group is speculated to rise to 11% despite the anticipated increase in the payout ratio. There could probably be other factors that could be driving the future growth in the ROE.
Summary
Overall, we feel that Advanced Medical Solutions Group certainly does have some positive factors to consider. That is, a decent growth in earnings backed by a high rate of reinvestment. However, we do feel that that earnings growth could have been higher if the business were to improve on the low ROE rate. Especially given how the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
