Yahoo Finance Declining Stock and Solid Fundamentals: Is The Market Wrong About Tate & Lyle plc (LON:TATE)?
It is hard to get excited after looking at Tate & Lyle's (LON:TATE) recent performance, when its stock has declined 8.2% over the past three months. However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Specifically, we decided to study Tate & Lyle'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. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
View our latest analysis for Tate & Lyle
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 Tate & Lyle is:
17% = UK£253m ÷ UK£1.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2021).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.17.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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 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.
Tate & Lyle's Earnings Growth And 17% ROE
To begin with, Tate & Lyle seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 12%. This probably laid the ground for Tate & Lyle's moderate 5.8% net income growth seen over the past five years.
Next, on comparing Tate & Lyle's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 5.1% in the same period.
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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Tate & Lyle's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Tate & Lyle Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
While Tate & Lyle has a three-year median payout ratio of 56% (which means it retains 44% of profits), the company has still seen a fair bit of earnings growth in the past, meaning that its high payout ratio hasn't hampered its ability to grow.
Additionally, Tate & Lyle has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 54%. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Tate & Lyle's future ROE will be 15% which is again, similar to the current ROE.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that Tate & Lyle's performance has been quite good. We are particularly impressed by the considerable earnings growth posted by the company, which was likely backed by its high ROE. While the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends, it has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's probably a good sign. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. 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. 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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