Could The Market Be Wrong About Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MYE) Given Its Attractive Financial Prospects?
Myers Industries (NYSE:MYE) has had a rough three months with its share price down 3.8%. 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. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Myers Industries' ROE today.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
Check out our latest analysis for Myers Industries
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
Return on equity 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 Myers Industries is:
21% = US$56m ÷ US$265m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).
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 $0.21.
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. 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.
Myers Industries' Earnings Growth And 21% ROE
At first glance, Myers Industries seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 22%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the impressive net income growth of 36% seen over the past five years by Myers Industries. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Myers Industries' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 13% in the same period, which is great to see.
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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Myers Industries is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is Myers Industries Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Myers Industries' significant three-year median payout ratio of 53% (where it is retaining only 47% of its income) suggests that the company has been able to achieve a high growth in earnings despite returning most of its income to shareholders.
Additionally, Myers Industries 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.
Conclusion
Overall, we are quite pleased with Myers Industries' performance. In particular, its high ROE is quite noteworthy and also the probable explanation behind its considerable earnings growth. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. So far, we've only made a quick discussion around the company's earnings growth. To gain further insights into Myers Industries' past profit growth, check out this visualization of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.
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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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