Is VAALCO Energy, Inc.'s (NYSE:EGY) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?
VAALCO Energy's (NYSE:EGY) stock is up by a considerable 45% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on VAALCO Energy's 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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
View our latest analysis for VAALCO Energy
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 VAALCO Energy is:
40% = US$44m ÷ US$110m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.40 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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.
VAALCO Energy's Earnings Growth And 40% ROE
First thing first, we like that VAALCO Energy has an impressive ROE. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 14% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. Yet, VAALCO Energy has posted measly growth of 3.3% over the past five years. That's a bit unexpected from a company which has such a high rate of return. Such a scenario is likely to take place when a company pays out a huge portion of its earnings as dividends, or is faced with competitive pressures.
When you consider the fact that the industry earnings have shrunk at a rate of 1.8% in the same period, the company's net income growth is pretty remarkable.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if VAALCO Energy is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is VAALCO Energy Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
VAALCO Energy doesn't pay any dividend currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. However, there's only been very little earnings growth to show for it. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.
Conclusion
In total, we are pretty happy with VAALCO Energy's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. Having said that, on studying current analyst estimates, we were concerned to see that while the company has grown its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to shrink in the future. 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. 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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