Is Swiss Re AG's (VTX:SREN) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Financials In Any Way?
Most readers would already know that Swiss Re's (VTX:SREN) stock increased by 8.0% over the past three months. As most would know, long-term fundamentals have a strong correlation with market price movements, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. In this article, we decided to focus on Swiss Re's ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
Check out our latest analysis for Swiss Re
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
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 Swiss Re is:
14% = US$1.8b ÷ US$13b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every CHF1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CHF0.14 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. 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. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.
A Side By Side comparison of Swiss Re's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE
To start with, Swiss Re's ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 16%. This probably goes some way in explaining Swiss Re's significant 28% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. We believe that there might also 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 Swiss Re'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 6.3%.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Swiss Re's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Swiss Re Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
The really high three-year median payout ratio of 135% for Swiss Re suggests that the company is paying its shareholders more than what it is earning. In spite of this, the company was able to grow its earnings significantly, as we saw above. Having said that, the high payout ratio is definitely risky and something to keep an eye on.
Additionally, Swiss Re has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 55% over the next three years. The fact that the company's ROE is expected to rise to 19% over the same period is explained by the drop in the payout ratio.
Summary
Overall, we feel that Swiss Re certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Especially the growth in earnings which was backed by an impressive ROE. Still, the high ROE could have been even more beneficial to investors had the company been reinvesting more of its profits. As highlighted earlier, the current reinvestment rate appears to be negligible. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
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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.
