Why Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd’s (NASDAQ:SINO) ROE Of 11.3% Does Not Tell The Whole Story
The content of this article will benefit those of you who are starting to educate yourself about investing in the stock market and want to learn about Return on Equity using a real-life example.
Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd (NASDAQ:SINO) generated a below-average return on equity of 11.3% in the past 12 months, while its industry returned 11.5%. SINO’s results could indicate a relatively inefficient operation to its peers, and while this may be the case, it is important to understand what ROE is made up of and how it should be interpreted. Knowing these components could change your view on SINO’s performance. Metrics such as financial leverage can impact the level of ROE which in turn can affect the sustainability of SINO’s returns. Let me show you what I mean by this.
View our latest analysis for Sino-Global Shipping America
Breaking down Return on Equity
Return on Equity (ROE) weighs Sino-Global Shipping America’s profit against the level of its shareholders’ equity. It essentially shows how much the company can generate in earnings given the amount of equity it has raised. 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
Returns are usually compared to costs to measure the efficiency of capital. Sino-Global Shipping America’s cost of equity is 8.6%. Sino-Global Shipping America’s ROE exceeds its cost by 2.7%, which is a big tick. Some of its peers with higher ROE may face a cost which exceeds returns, which is unsustainable and far less desirable than Sino-Global Shipping America’s case of positive discrepancy. 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
Basically, profit margin measures how much of revenue trickles down into earnings which illustrates how efficient the business is with its cost management. Asset turnover shows how much revenue Sino-Global Shipping America 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 Sino-Global Shipping America’s debt-to-equity level. Currently, Sino-Global Shipping America has no debt which means its returns are driven purely by equity capital. This could explain why Sino-Global Shipping America’s’ ROE is lower than its industry peers, most of which may have some degree of debt in its business.
Next Steps:
ROE is a simple yet informative ratio, illustrating the various components that each measure the quality of the overall stock. Although Sino-Global Shipping America’s ROE is underwhelming relative to the industry average, its returns are high enough to cover the cost of equity. Also, ROE is not likely to be inflated by excessive debt funding, giving shareholders more conviction in the sustainability of returns, which has headroom to increase further. ROE is a helpful signal, but it is definitely not sufficient on its own to make an investment decision.
For Sino-Global Shipping America, I’ve put together three relevant aspects you should further research:
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.
Future Earnings: How does Sino-Global Shipping America’s growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.
Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of Sino-Global Shipping America? 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.
