Yahoo Finance Declining Stock and Solid Fundamentals: Is The Market Wrong About Excelsior Capital Limited (ASX:ECL)?
With its stock down 4.1% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Excelsior Capital (ASX:ECL). But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Specifically, we decided to study Excelsior Capital's ROE in this article.
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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
View our latest analysis for Excelsior Capital
How Do You 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 Excelsior Capital is:
10% = AU$5.4m ÷ AU$53m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.10 in profit.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.
A Side By Side comparison of Excelsior Capital's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE
At first glance, Excelsior Capital seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 10%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 6.4% seen over the past five years by Excelsior Capital.
We then compared Excelsior Capital's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 17% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. If you're wondering about Excelsior Capital's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Excelsior Capital Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Excelsior Capital has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 37% (or a retention ratio of 63%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.
Additionally, Excelsior Capital has paid dividends over a period of eight years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that Excelsior Capital's performance has been quite good. 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 respectable growth in its earnings. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Not to forget, share price outcomes are also dependent on the potential risks a company may face. So it is important for investors to be aware of the risks involved in the business. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for Excelsior Capital by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.
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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