Can Kewaunee Scientific Corporation (NASDAQ:KEQU) Performance Keep Up Given Its Mixed Bag Of Fundamentals?
Kewaunee Scientific's (NASDAQ:KEQU) stock is up by 5.8% 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. Specifically, we decided to study Kewaunee Scientific's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
View our latest analysis for Kewaunee Scientific
How To 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 Kewaunee Scientific is:
3.5% = US$1.4m ÷ US$38m (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2023).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.04 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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.
Kewaunee Scientific's Earnings Growth And 3.5% ROE
It is quite clear that Kewaunee Scientific's ROE is rather low. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 9.4%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. For this reason, Kewaunee Scientific's five year net income decline of 43% is not surprising given its lower ROE. However, there could also be other factors causing the earnings to decline. For example, the business has allocated capital poorly, or that the company has a very high payout ratio.
So, as a next step, we compared Kewaunee Scientific's performance against the industry and were disappointed to discover that while the company has been shrinking its earnings, the industry has been growing its earnings at a rate of 9.9% over the last few years.
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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Kewaunee Scientific fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Kewaunee Scientific Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Kewaunee Scientific doesn't pay any dividend, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business, which doesn't explain why the company's earnings have shrunk if it is retaining all of its profits. So there could be some other explanations in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.
Summary
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Kewaunee Scientific's performance. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. To know the 3 risks we have identified for Kewaunee Scientific visit our risks dashboard for free.
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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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