Is Weakness In M.T.I Wireless Edge Ltd. (LON:MWE) Stock A Sign That The Market Could be Wrong Given Its Strong Financial Prospects?

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With its stock down 32% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard M.T.I Wireless Edge (LON:MWE). However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Particularly, we will be paying attention to M.T.I Wireless Edge's ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for M.T.I Wireless Edge

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 M.T.I Wireless Edge is:

14% = US$3.9m ÷ US$27m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every £1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated £0.14 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

A Side By Side comparison of M.T.I Wireless Edge's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To start with, M.T.I Wireless Edge's ROE looks acceptable. Even when compared to the industry average of 14% the company's ROE looks quite decent. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 11% seen over the past five years by M.T.I Wireless Edge.

Next, on comparing M.T.I Wireless Edge's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 11% over the last few years.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. What is MWE worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether MWE is currently mispriced by the market.

Is M.T.I Wireless Edge Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

M.T.I Wireless Edge has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 67%, meaning that it is left with only 33% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Additionally, M.T.I Wireless Edge 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 is expected to keep paying out approximately 76% of its profits over the next three years. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 14%.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with M.T.I Wireless Edge's performance. Especially the high ROE, Which has contributed to the impressive growth seen in earnings. Despite the company reinvesting only a small portion of its profits, it still has managed to grow its earnings so that is appreciable. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.

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