Yahoo Finance Is Colfax Corporation's (NYSE:CFX) Recent Price Movement Underpinned By Its Weak Fundamentals?
It is hard to get excited after looking at Colfax's (NYSE:CFX) recent performance, when its stock has declined 16% over the past three months. It is possible that the markets have ignored the company's differing financials and decided to lean-in to the negative sentiment. Long-term fundamentals are usually what drive market outcomes, so it's worth paying close attention. Specifically, we decided to study Colfax's ROE in this article.
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
See our latest analysis for Colfax
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Colfax is:
2.1% = US$99m ÷ US$4.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.02 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. 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.
Colfax's Earnings Growth And 2.1% ROE
It is hard to argue that Colfax's ROE is much good in and of itself. Even when compared to the industry average of 13%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Hence, the flat earnings seen by Colfax over the past five years could probably be the result of it having a lower ROE.
As a next step, we compared Colfax's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 9.1% in the same period.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Has the market priced in the future outlook for CFX? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Colfax Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Colfax doesn't pay any dividend, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business. However, this doesn't explain why the company hasn't seen any growth. So there could be some other explanations in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Colfax can be open to many interpretations. 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. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. 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.
