Dollar Tree, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DLTR) Stock On An Uptrend: Could Fundamentals Be Driving The Momentum?
Most readers would already be aware that Dollar Tree's (NASDAQ:DLTR) stock increased significantly by 9.4% over the past month. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. In this article, we decided to focus on Dollar Tree's ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
See our latest analysis for Dollar Tree
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 Dollar Tree is:
18% = US$1.5b ÷ US$8.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.18.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Dollar Tree's Earnings Growth And 18% ROE
To begin with, Dollar Tree seems to have a respectable ROE. Yet, the fact that the company's ROE is lower than the industry average of 31% does temper our expectations. Dollar Tree was still able to see a decent net income growth of 7.6% over the past five years. Therefore, the growth in earnings could probably have been caused by other variables. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place. Bear in mind, the company does have a respectable level of ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is higher. So this also does lend some color to the fairly high earnings growth seen by the company.
We then compared Dollar Tree's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 15% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Has the market priced in the future outlook for DLTR? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Dollar Tree Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Given that Dollar Tree doesn't pay any dividend to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.
Conclusion
On the whole, we do feel that Dollar Tree has some positive attributes. Particularly, its earnings have grown respectably as we saw earlier, which was likely achieved due to the company reinvesting most of its earnings at a decent rate of return, to grow its business. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company's earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.
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