Dunelm Group plc's (LON:DNLM) Stock Is Going Strong: Is the Market Following Fundamentals?

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Dunelm Group's (LON:DNLM) stock is up by a considerable 14% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on Dunelm Group's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Dunelm Group

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Dunelm Group is:

75% = UK£151m ÷ UK£201m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every £1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn £0.75 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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.

Dunelm Group's Earnings Growth And 75% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Dunelm Group has a significantly high ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 16% the company's ROE is quite impressive. Probably as a result of this, Dunelm Group was able to see a decent net income growth of 17% over the last five years.

Next, on comparing Dunelm Group's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 16% over the last few years.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is DNLM worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether DNLM is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Dunelm Group Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Dunelm Group has a three-year median payout ratio of 48%, which implies that it retains the remaining 52% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

Moreover, Dunelm Group is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to rise to 82% over the next three years. Regardless, the future ROE for Dunelm Group is speculated to rise to 107% despite the anticipated increase in the payout ratio. There could probably be other factors that could be driving the future growth in the ROE.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Dunelm Group's performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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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