Yahoo Finance Is Electrocomponents plc's (LON:ECM) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?
Electrocomponents (LON:ECM) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 16% over the last three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Electrocomponents' ROE today.
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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Electrocomponents
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Electrocomponents is:
21% = UK£155m ÷ UK£720m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).
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 £0.21 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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.
Electrocomponents' Earnings Growth And 21% ROE
Firstly, we acknowledge that Electrocomponents has a significantly high ROE. Further, even comparing with the industry average if 19%, the company's ROE is quite respectable. As a result, Electrocomponents' remarkable 28% net income growth seen over the past 5 years is likely aided by its high ROE.
We then compared Electrocomponents' net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 13% in the same period.
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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for ECM? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Electrocomponents Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Electrocomponents' three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 44%, meaning the company retains 56% of its income. So it seems that Electrocomponents is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.
Besides, Electrocomponents 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 44% of its profits over the next three years. As a result, Electrocomponents' ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 20% for future ROE.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that Electrocomponents' performance has been quite good. 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 sizeable growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. 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.
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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