With An ROE Of 6.3%, Can Community Bankers Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:ESXB) Catch Up To The Industry?
I am writing today to help inform people who are new to the stock market and want to begin learning the link between company’s fundamentals and stock market performance.
Community Bankers Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:ESXB) generated a below-average return on equity of 6.3% in the past 12 months, while its industry returned 8.2%. An investor may attribute an inferior ROE to a relatively inefficient performance, and whilst this can often be the case, knowing the nuts and bolts of the ROE calculation may change that perspective and give you a deeper insight into ESXB’s past performance. Today I will look at how components such as financial leverage can influence ROE which may impact the sustainability of ESXB’s returns.
Check out our latest analysis for Community Bankers Trust
What you must know about ROE
Return on Equity (ROE) is a measure of Community Bankers Trust’s profit relative to its shareholders’ equity. For example, if the company invests $1 in the form of equity, it will generate $0.063 in earnings from this. Generally speaking, a higher ROE is preferred; however, there are other factors we must also consider before making any conclusions.
Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders Equity
ROE is measured against cost of equity in order to determine the efficiency of Community Bankers Trust’s equity capital deployed. Its cost of equity is 10.8%. Given a discrepancy of -4.5% between return and cost, this indicated that Community Bankers Trust may be paying more for its capital than what it’s generating in return. ROE can be dissected into three distinct ratios: net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage. This is called the Dupont Formula:
Dupont Formula
ROE = profit margin × asset turnover × financial leverage
ROE = (annual net profit ÷ sales) × (sales ÷ assets) × (assets ÷ shareholders’ equity)
ROE = annual net profit ÷ shareholders’ equity
Essentially, profit margin shows how much money the company makes after paying for all its expenses. Asset turnover shows how much revenue Community Bankers Trust can generate with its current asset base. The most interesting ratio, and reflective of sustainability of its ROE, is financial leverage. Since ROE can be inflated by excessive debt, we need to examine Community Bankers Trust’s debt-to-equity level. Currently the debt-to-equity ratio stands at a reasonable 73.7%, which means its ROE is driven by its ability to grow its profit without a significant debt burden.
Next Steps:
While ROE is a relatively simple calculation, it can be broken down into different ratios, each telling a different story about the strengths and weaknesses of a company. Community Bankers Trust’s below-industry ROE is disappointing, furthermore, its returns were not even high enough to cover its own cost of equity. Although, its appropriate level of leverage means investors can be more confident in the sustainability of Community Bankers Trust’s return with a possible increase should the company decide to increase its debt levels. Although ROE can be a useful metric, it is only a small part of diligent research.
For Community Bankers Trust, I’ve put together three relevant aspects you should further examine:
Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.
Valuation: What is Community Bankers Trust worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Community Bankers Trust is currently mispriced by the market.
Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of Community Bankers Trust? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large growth potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
