Is The Market Rewarding International General Insurance Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:IGIC) With A Negative Sentiment As A Result Of Its Mixed Fundamentals?
With its stock down 9.9% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard International General Insurance Holdings (NASDAQ:IGIC). It seems that the market might have completely ignored the positive aspects of the company's fundamentals and decided to weigh-in more on the negative aspects. Long-term fundamentals are usually what drive market outcomes, so it's worth paying close attention. In this article, we decided to focus on International General Insurance Holdings' 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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
Check out our latest analysis for International General Insurance Holdings
How Is ROE Calculated?
ROE 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 International General Insurance Holdings is:
6.6% = US$25m ÷ US$380m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.07 in profit.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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. 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.
International General Insurance Holdings' Earnings Growth And 6.6% ROE
On the face of it, International General Insurance Holdings' ROE is not much to talk about. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 9.0%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. Given the circumstances, the significant decline in net income by 8.2% seen by International General Insurance Holdings over the last five years is not surprising. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For example, it is possible that the business has allocated capital poorly or that the company has a very high payout ratio.
So, as a next step, we compared International General Insurance Holdings' 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 6.2% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is International General Insurance Holdings fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is International General Insurance Holdings Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Looking at its three-year median payout ratio of 46% (or a retention ratio of 54%) which is pretty normal, International General Insurance Holdings' declining earnings is rather baffling as one would expect to see a fair bit of growth when a company is retaining a good portion of its profits. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.
In addition, International General Insurance Holdings only recently started paying a dividend so the management probably decided the shareholders prefer dividends even though earnings have been shrinking.
Conclusion
Overall, we have mixed feelings about International General Insurance Holdings. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
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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