The Weir Group PLC's (LON:WEIR) Recent Stock Performance Looks Decent- Can Strong Fundamentals Be the Reason?
Weir Group's (LON:WEIR) stock up by 9.4% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term financial health, we decided to study the company’s fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Weir Group's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
See our latest analysis for Weir Group
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 Weir Group is:
14% = UK£230m ÷ UK£1.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.14.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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.
Weir Group's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE
To start with, Weir Group's ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 14%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the impressive net income growth of 23% seen over the past five years by Weir Group. However, there could also be other drivers behind this growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Weir Group's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 9.4% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is WEIR fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.
Is Weir Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Weir Group has a three-year median payout ratio of 39% (where it is retaining 61% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the high growth we discussed above, it looks like Weir Group is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.
Moreover, Weir Group is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 33%. Regardless, the future ROE for Weir Group is predicted to rise to 17% despite there being not much change expected in its payout ratio.
Conclusion
Overall, we are quite pleased with Weir Group's performance. 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. 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.
