Yahoo Finance The Character Group plc (LON:CCT) Stock's Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Decent: Will The Market Correct The Share Price In The Future?
Character Group (LON:CCT) has had a rough three months with its share price down 20%. However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. In this article, we decided to focus on Character Group's ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
View our latest analysis for Character Group
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Character Group is:
32% = UK£11m ÷ UK£35m (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every £1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated £0.32 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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 everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.
Character Group's Earnings Growth And 32% ROE
First thing first, we like that Character Group has an impressive ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 17% which is quite remarkable. Given the circumstances, we can't help but wonder why Character Group saw little to no growth in the past five years. Based on this, we feel that there might be other reasons which haven't been discussed so far in this article that could be hampering the company's growth. Such as, the company pays out a huge portion of its earnings as dividends, or is faced with competitive pressures.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Character 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 an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Character Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Character Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Despite having a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 34% (meaning the company retains66% of profits) in the last three-year period, Character Group's earnings growth was more or les flat. So there could be some other explanation in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.
Additionally, Character Group has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth.
Summary
On the whole, we do feel that Character Group has some positive attributes. Although, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a high ROE and and a high reinvestment rate. We believe that there might be some outside factors that could be having a negative impact on the business. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.
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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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