Is Bristow Group Inc.'s (NYSE:VTOL) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Fundamentals In Any Way?
Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 7.6% over the last 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. In this article, we decided to focus on Bristow Group's ROE.
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
Check out our latest analysis for Bristow Group
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Bristow Group is:
28% = US$278m ÷ US$981m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.28 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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.
Bristow Group's Earnings Growth And 28% ROE
First thing first, we like that Bristow Group has an impressive ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 12% which is quite remarkable. Needless to say, we are quite surprised to see that Bristow Group's net income shrunk at a rate of 22% over the past five years. So, there might be some other aspects that could explain this. For example, it could be that the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.
Next, when we compared with the industry, which has shrunk its earnings at a rate of 6.7% in the same period, we still found Bristow Group's performance to be quite bleak, because the company has been shrinking its earnings faster than the industry.
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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Bristow Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Bristow Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Conclusion
Overall, we feel that Bristow Group certainly does have some positive factors to consider. However, given the high ROE and high profit retention, we would expect the company to be delivering strong earnings growth, but that isn't the case here. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering its growth. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. To know the 2 risks we have identified for Bristow Group visit our risks dashboard for free.
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.
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