Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In Franklin Electric Co., Inc.'s (NASDAQ:FELE) Stock?
Most readers would already be aware that Franklin Electric's (NASDAQ:FELE) stock increased significantly by 14% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Franklin Electric's ROE today.
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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
See our latest analysis for Franklin Electric
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Franklin Electric is:
12% = US$101m ÷ US$850m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.12 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. 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.
Franklin Electric's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE
To start with, Franklin Electric's ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 11%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 6.8% seen over the past five years by Franklin Electric.
We then performed a comparison between Franklin Electric's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 7.6% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Franklin Electric fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Franklin Electric Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Franklin Electric has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 26% (or a retention ratio of 74%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.
Besides, Franklin Electric has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 24%. Still, forecasts suggest that Franklin Electric's future ROE will rise to 22% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that Franklin Electric's performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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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