Brady Corporation's (NYSE:BRC) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?
Most readers would already be aware that Brady's (NYSE:BRC) stock increased significantly by 16% over the past month. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study Brady's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Brady
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 Brady is:
16% = US$142m ÷ US$900m (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2020).
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 $0.16 in profit.
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. 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.
Brady's Earnings Growth And 16% ROE
To begin with, Brady seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 15%. This probably goes some way in explaining Brady's significant 42% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. However, there could also be other drivers behind this growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Brady's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 15% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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 Brady's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Brady Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
The three-year median payout ratio for Brady is 43%, which is moderately low. The company is retaining the remaining 57%. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Brady is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.
Moreover, Brady 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.
Conclusion
In total, we are pretty happy with Brady'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. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. 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. 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. Thank you for reading.
