Yahoo Finance Bellway p.l.c. (LON:BWY) Has Fared Decently But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead For The Stock?
Bellway's (LON:BWY) stock is up by 4.5% over the past three months. Given that the stock prices usually follow long-term business performance, we wonder if the company's mixed financials could have any adverse effect on its current price price movement Specifically, we decided to study Bellway'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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
Check out our latest analysis for Bellway
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 Bellway is:
5.8% = UK£183m ÷ UK£3.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2021).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every £1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn £0.06 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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 Bellway's Earnings Growth And 5.8% ROE
At first glance, Bellway's ROE doesn't look very promising. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 5.6%, we may spare it some thought. Having said that, Bellway's five year net income decline rate was 4.3%. Bear in mind, the company does have a slightly low ROE. Hence, this goes some way in explaining the shrinking earnings.
As a next step, we compared Bellway's performance with the industry and found thatBellway's performance is depressing even when compared with the industry, which has shrunk its earnings at a rate of 0.4% in the same period, which is a slower than the company.
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. Is Bellway fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Bellway Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Looking at its three-year median payout ratio of 33% (or a retention ratio of 67%) which is pretty normal, Bellway's declining earnings is rather baffling as one would expect to see a fair bit of growth when a company is retaining a good portion of its profits. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.
Moreover, Bellway has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 35%. However, Bellway's ROE is predicted to rise to 13% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.
Conclusion
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Bellway's performance. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. That being so, the latest industry analyst forecasts show that the analysts are expecting to see a huge improvement in the company's earnings growth rate. 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.
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.
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