Yahoo Finance Will Weakness in Wacker Chemie AG's (ETR:WCH) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?
Wacker Chemie (ETR:WCH) has had a rough three months with its share price down 3.1%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Wacker Chemie's ROE in this article.
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.
See our latest analysis for Wacker Chemie
How Do You 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 Wacker Chemie is:
27% = €1.3b ÷ €5.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every €1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of €0.27.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. 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.
Wacker Chemie's Earnings Growth And 27% ROE
To begin with, Wacker Chemie has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 11% which is quite remarkable. So, the substantial 34% net income growth seen by Wacker Chemie over the past five years isn't overly surprising.
We then compared Wacker Chemie's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a 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. What is WCH worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether WCH is currently mispriced by the market.
Is Wacker Chemie Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
The three-year median payout ratio for Wacker Chemie is 28%, which is moderately low. The company is retaining the remaining 72%. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Wacker Chemie is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.
Moreover, Wacker Chemie is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 44% over the next three years. Consequently, the higher expected payout ratio explains the decline in the company's expected ROE (to 13%) over the same period.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that Wacker Chemie's performance has been quite good. 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 substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. 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.
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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.
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