Has Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc's (LON:AMS) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?
Advanced Medical Solutions Group's (LON:AMS) stock is up by a considerable 6.5% over the past month. As most would know, fundamentals are what usually guide market price movements over the long-term, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Advanced Medical Solutions Group's ROE today.
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
View our latest analysis for Advanced Medical Solutions Group
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 Advanced Medical Solutions Group is:
8.6% = UK£20m ÷ UK£237m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each £1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made £0.09 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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 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.
Advanced Medical Solutions Group's Earnings Growth And 8.6% ROE
At first glance, Advanced Medical Solutions Group's ROE doesn't look very promising. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 4.3% doesn't go unnoticed by us. But seeing Advanced Medical Solutions Group's five year net income decline of 6.1% over the past five years, we might rethink that. Remember, the company's ROE is a bit low to begin with, just that it is higher than the industry average. So that could be one of the factors that are causing earnings growth to shrink.
Next, we compared Advanced Medical Solutions Group's performance against the industry and found that the industry shrunk its earnings at 13% in the same period, which suggests that the company's earnings have been shrinking at a slower rate than its industry, This does appease the negative sentiment around the company to a certain extent.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Has the market priced in the future outlook for AMS? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Advanced Medical Solutions Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Advanced Medical Solutions Group's low three-year median payout ratio of 24% (or a retention ratio of 76%) over the last three years should mean that the company is retaining most of its earnings to fuel its growth but the company's earnings have actually shrunk. The low payout should mean that the company is retaining most of its earnings and consequently, should see some growth. It looks like there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.
Moreover, Advanced Medical Solutions Group has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth. 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 22%. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Advanced Medical Solutions Group's future ROE will be 10.0% which is again, similar to the current ROE.
Conclusion
On the whole, we do feel that Advanced Medical Solutions Group has some positive attributes. However, while the company does have a decent ROE and a high profit retention, its earnings growth number is quite disappointing. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering growth. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow 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.
