Declining Stock and Decent Financials: Is The Market Wrong About Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (JSE:HAR)?
With its stock down 12% over the past week, it is easy to disregard Harmony Gold Mining (JSE:HAR). But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. In this article, we decided to focus on Harmony Gold Mining'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.
See our latest analysis for Harmony Gold Mining
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Harmony Gold Mining is:
14% = R4.9b ÷ R35b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ZAR1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ZAR0.14 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. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.
Harmony Gold Mining's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE
At first glance, Harmony Gold Mining's ROE doesn't look very promising. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 14%. Looking at Harmony Gold Mining's exceptional 65% five-year net income growth in particular, we are definitely impressed. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.
We then compared Harmony Gold Mining'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 37% in the same 5-year period.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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. Is Harmony Gold Mining fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Harmony Gold Mining Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Harmony Gold Mining has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 19%, meaning that it has the remaining 81% left over to reinvest into its business. So it looks like Harmony Gold Mining is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.
Besides, Harmony Gold Mining has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 2.9% over the next three years. However, Harmony Gold Mining's future ROE is expected to decline to 7.6% despite the expected decline in its payout ratio. We infer that there could be other factors that could be steering the foreseen decline in the company's ROE.
Conclusion
On the whole, we do feel that Harmony Gold Mining has some positive attributes. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. 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.
