GCP Student Living plc (LON:DIGS) Has Fared Decently But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead For The Stock?
GCP Student Living's (LON:DIGS) stock up by 4.1% over the past three months. However, the company's financials look a bit inconsistent and market outcomes are ultimately driven by long-term fundamentals, meaning that the stock could head in either direction. In this article, we decided to focus on GCP Student Living's ROE.
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 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 GCP Student Living
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 GCP Student Living is:
0.8% = UK£6.6m ÷ UK£780m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.01.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
A Side By Side comparison of GCP Student Living's Earnings Growth And 0.8% ROE
As you can see, GCP Student Living's ROE looks pretty weak. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 5.7%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. Although, we can see that GCP Student Living saw a modest net income growth of 14% over the past five years. We believe that there might be 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.
As a next step, we compared GCP Student Living's 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 10%.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is GCP Student Living fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is GCP Student Living Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
The really high three-year median payout ratio of 107% for GCP Student Living suggests that the company is paying its shareholders more than what it is earning. Still the company's earnings have grown respectably. It would still be worth keeping an eye on that high payout ratio, if for some reason the company runs into problems and business deteriorates. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for GCP Student Living by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.
Additionally, GCP Student Living has paid dividends over a period of seven years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 93%.
Summary
Overall, we have mixed feelings about GCP Student Living. While no doubt its earnings growth is pretty substantial, its ROE and earnings retention is quite poor. So while the company has managed to grow its earnings in spite of this, we are unconvinced if this growth could extend, especially during troubled times. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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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