Yahoo Finance Is Hansard Global Plc's (LON:HSD) Recent Price Movement Underpinned By Its Weak Fundamentals?
With its stock down 8.3% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Hansard Global (LON:HSD). It seems that the market might have completely ignored the positive aspects of the company's fundamentals and decided to weigh-in more on the negative aspects. Stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, and therefore we decided to pay more attention to the company's financial performance. In this article, we decided to focus on Hansard Global's ROE.
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.
View our latest analysis for Hansard Global
How To 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 Hansard Global is:
19% = UK£4.7m ÷ UK£25m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every £1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated £0.19 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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 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.
Hansard Global's Earnings Growth And 19% ROE
To begin with, Hansard Global seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 10%. Needless to say, we are quite surprised to see that Hansard Global's net income shrunk at a rate of 20% over the past five years. Therefore, there might be some other aspects that could explain this. These include low earnings retention or poor allocation of capital.
So, as a next step, we compared Hansard Global's performance against the industry and were disappointed to discover that while the company has been shrinking its earnings, the industry has been growing its earnings at a rate of 6.0% in the same period.
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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Hansard Global fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Hansard Global Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Hansard Global's high three-year median payout ratio of 133% suggests that the company is depleting its resources to keep up its dividend payments, and this shows in its shrinking earnings. Paying a dividend beyond their means is usually not viable over the long term. Our risks dashboard should have the 2 risks we have identified for Hansard Global.
Moreover, Hansard Global 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.
Conclusion
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Hansard Global's performance. Despite the high ROE, the company has a disappointing earnings growth number, due to its poor rate of reinvestment into its business. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. 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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