Yahoo Finance Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) Stock Has Shown Weakness Lately But Financials Look Strong: Should Prospective Shareholders Make The Leap?
Danaher (NYSE:DHR) has had a rough three months with its share price down 7.3%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. In this article, we decided to focus on Danaher's ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. 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 Danaher
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Danaher is:
14% = US$7.2b ÷ US$50b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.14 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Danaher's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE
At first glance, Danaher seems to have a decent ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 14% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This certainly adds some context to Danaher's exceptional 27% net income growth seen over the past five years. 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.
We then performed a comparison between Danaher's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 29% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. What is DHR worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether DHR is currently mispriced by the market.
Is Danaher Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Danaher's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 11%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 89% of its profits. So it looks like Danaher is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.
Besides, Danaher has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 10%. As a result, Danaher's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 14% for future ROE.
Conclusion
Overall, we are quite pleased with Danaher'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. 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.
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