Yahoo Finance Agilent Technologies, Inc.'s (NYSE:A) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?
With its stock down 11% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A). 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. Specifically, we decided to study Agilent Technologies' ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
See our latest analysis for Agilent Technologies
How To 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 Agilent Technologies is:
20% = US$1.2b ÷ US$6.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2024).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.20 in profit.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
Agilent Technologies' Earnings Growth And 20% ROE
To begin with, Agilent Technologies seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 12%. This certainly adds some context to Agilent Technologies' decent 8.9% net income growth seen over the past five years.
We then compared Agilent Technologies' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 17% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Has the market priced in the future outlook for A? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Agilent Technologies Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Agilent Technologies has a low three-year median payout ratio of 20%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 80% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.
Besides, Agilent Technologies has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 19% of its profits over the next three years. Still, forecasts suggest that Agilent Technologies' future ROE will rise to 25% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.
Summary
Overall, we are quite pleased with Agilent Technologies' performance. 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 respectable growth in its earnings. On studying current analyst estimates, we found that analysts expect the company to continue its recent growth streak. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.
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