Easterly Government Properties, Inc.'s (NYSE:DEA) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?
With its stock down 3.8% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA). However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. In this article, we decided to focus on Easterly Government Properties' ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
Check out our latest analysis for Easterly Government Properties
How To 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 Easterly Government Properties is:
0.6% = US$8.3m ÷ US$1.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.01 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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 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.
Easterly Government Properties' Earnings Growth And 0.6% ROE
As you can see, Easterly Government Properties' ROE looks pretty weak. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 5.0%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. However, we we're pleasantly surprised to see that Easterly Government Properties grew its net income at a significant rate of 27% in the last five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons behind this growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
As a next step, we compared Easterly Government Properties' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 14%.
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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for DEA? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Easterly Government Properties Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Easterly Government Properties has a very high three-year median payout ratio of 75%. This means that it has only 25% of its income left to reinvest into its business. However, it's not unusual to see a REIT with such a high payout ratio mainly due to statutory requirements. In spite of this, the company was able to grow its earnings significantly, as we saw above.
Additionally, Easterly Government Properties has paid dividends over a period of five years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 83% of its profits over the next three years.
Summary
In total, it does look like Easterly Government Properties has some positive aspects to its business. That is, quite an impressive growth in earnings. However, the low profit retention means that the company's earnings growth could have been higher, had it been reinvesting a higher portion of its profits. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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