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Has EBOS Group Limited's (NZSE:EBO) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?

EBOS Group's (NZSE:EBO) stock is up by a considerable 9.1% over the past month. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Particularly, we will be paying attention to EBOS Group'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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for EBOS Group

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for EBOS Group is:

13% = AU$184m ÷ AU$1.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every NZ$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of NZ$0.13.

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. 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.

EBOS Group's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

To begin with, EBOS Group seems to have a respectable ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 15%. This probably goes some way in explaining EBOS Group's moderate 8.5% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.

We then compared EBOS Group's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 11% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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. What is EBO worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether EBO is currently mispriced by the market.

Is EBOS Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

EBOS Group has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 73%, meaning that it is left with only 27% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Besides, EBOS Group has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 71%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 15%.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that EBOS Group has some positive attributes. Its earnings growth is decent, and the high ROE does contribute to that growth. However, investors could have benefitted even more from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company's earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. 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. 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.

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