Yahoo Finance Are Strong Financial Prospects The Force That Is Driving The Momentum In Anpario plc's LON:ANP) Stock?
Anpario (LON:ANP) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 25% 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 Anpario's ROE today.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
Check out our latest analysis for Anpario
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
ROE 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 Anpario is:
10% = UK£3.7m ÷ UK£37m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every £1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated £0.10 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. 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.
Anpario's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE
At first glance, Anpario seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 8.1%. Probably as a result of this, Anpario was able to see a decent growth of 6.6% over the last five years.
As a next step, we compared Anpario's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 6.6% in the same period.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Anpario's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Anpario Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Anpario has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 43% (or a retention ratio of 57%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.
Besides, Anpario has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 47%.
Summary
Overall, we are quite pleased with Anpario's performance. 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. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
