Yahoo Finance Old Republic International Corporation's (NYSE:ORI) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?
It is hard to get excited after looking at Old Republic International's (NYSE:ORI) recent performance, when its stock has declined 12% over the past three months. 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 Old Republic International's 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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
View our latest analysis for Old Republic International
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 Old Republic International is:
20% = US$1.3b ÷ US$6.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.20 in profit.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.
Old Republic International's Earnings Growth And 20% ROE
At first glance, Old Republic International seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 13% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Old Republic International was able to see an impressive net income growth of 26% over the last five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. 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.
As a next step, we compared Old Republic International's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 14%.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Old Republic International's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Old Republic International Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Old Republic International has a three-year median payout ratio of 30% (where it is retaining 70% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that Old Republic International is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.
Additionally, Old Republic International has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.
Summary
In total, we are pretty happy with Old Republic International's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink 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.
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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.
