Declining Stock and Solid Fundamentals: Is The Market Wrong About Helios Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:HLIO)?

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Helios Technologies (NYSE:HLIO) has had a rough month with its share price down 5.7%. 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. Specifically, we decided to study Helios Technologies' ROE in this article.

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. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

See our latest analysis for Helios Technologies

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Helios Technologies is:

14% = US$104m ÷ US$751m (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2022).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.14 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. 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.

Helios Technologies' Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To begin with, Helios Technologies seems to have a respectable ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 13%. This probably goes some way in explaining Helios Technologies' significant 26% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. 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 Helios Technologies' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 7.3% in the same period, which is great to see.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is HLIO fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Helios Technologies Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Helios Technologies has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 18%, meaning that it has the remaining 82% left over to reinvest into its business. So it looks like Helios Technologies is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.

Besides, Helios Technologies has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 8.9% over the next three years. However, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much despite the lower expected payout ratio.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Helios Technologies' 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. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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