Is The Market Rewarding Clinigen Group plc (LON:CLIN) With A Negative Sentiment As A Result Of Its Mixed Fundamentals?

Clinigen Group (LON:CLIN) has had a rough three months with its share price down 30%. We, however decided to study the company's financials to determine if they have got anything to do with the price decline. Fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes so it makes sense to study the company's financials. In this article, we decided to focus on Clinigen Group's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Clinigen Group

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 Clinigen Group is:

2.9% = UK£13m ÷ UK£438m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every £1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn £0.03 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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.

Clinigen Group's Earnings Growth And 2.9% ROE

When you first look at it, Clinigen Group's ROE doesn't look that attractive. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 2.9%. Having said that, Clinigen Group has shown a modest net income growth of 9.7% over the past five years. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Clinigen Group's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 31% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.

past-earnings-growth

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is CLIN worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether CLIN is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Clinigen Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

The high three-year median payout ratio of 65% (or a retention ratio of 35%) for Clinigen Group suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders.

Additionally, Clinigen Group has paid dividends over a period of eight 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 is expected to drop to 14% over the next three years. Accordingly, the expected drop in the payout ratio explains the expected increase in the company's ROE to 16%, over the same period.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Clinigen Group can be open to many interpretations. While the company has posted a decent earnings growth, We do feel that the earnings growth number could have been even higher, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings at a higher rate of return. 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.

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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