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Is Weakness In IVU Traffic Technologies AG (ETR:IVU) Stock A Sign That The Market Could be Wrong Given Its Strong Financial Prospects?

With its stock down 14% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard IVU Traffic Technologies (ETR:IVU). But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Specifically, we decided to study IVU Traffic Technologies' ROE in this article.

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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

See our latest analysis for IVU Traffic Technologies

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for IVU Traffic Technologies is:

14% = €9.9m ÷ €70m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

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 €0.14 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For 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 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.

IVU Traffic Technologies' Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To begin with, IVU Traffic Technologies seems to have a respectable ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 14%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 8.7% seen over the past five years by IVU Traffic Technologies.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that IVU Traffic Technologies' reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 15% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if IVU Traffic Technologies is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is IVU Traffic Technologies Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

With a three-year median payout ratio of 40% (implying that the company retains 60% of its profits), it seems that IVU Traffic Technologies is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Besides, IVU Traffic Technologies has been paying dividends over a period of nine years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with IVU Traffic Technologies' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Let's not forget, business risk is also one of the factors that affects the price of the stock. So this is also an important area that investors need to pay attention to before making a decision on any business. To know the 1 risk we have identified for IVU Traffic Technologies visit our risks dashboard for free.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.