Yahoo Finance Does Rayonier Inc.'s (NYSE:RYN) Weak Fundamentals Mean That The Stock Could Move In The Opposite Direction?
Rayonier's (NYSE:RYN) stock is up by 4.5% over the past week. Given that the markets usually pay for the long-term financial health of a company, we wonder if the current momentum in the share price will keep up, given that the company's financials don't look very promising. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Rayonier's ROE today.
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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
Check out our latest analysis for Rayonier
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
ROE 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 Rayonier is:
3.8% = US$81m ÷ US$2.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.04.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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 Rayonier's Earnings Growth And 3.8% ROE
It is hard to argue that Rayonier's ROE is much good in and of itself. Even when compared to the industry average of 5.8%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Given the circumstances, the significant decline in net income by 31% seen by Rayonier over the last five years is not surprising. We believe that there also might be other aspects that are negatively influencing the company's earnings prospects. Such as - low earnings retention or poor allocation of capital.
However, when we compared Rayonier's growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 9.0% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.
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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for RYN? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Rayonier Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Rayonier has a very high three-year median payout ratio of 52%, implying that it retains only 48% of its profits. However, it's not unusual to see a REIT with such a high payout ratio mainly due to statutory requirements. So this probably explains the company's shrinking earnings.
Additionally, Rayonier has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 223% over the next three years. Still, forecasts suggest that Rayonier's future ROE will rise to 5.0% even though the the company's payout ratio is expected to rise. We presume that there could some other characteristics of the business that could be driving the anticipated growth in the company's ROE.
Conclusion
In total, we would have a hard think before deciding on any investment action concerning Rayonier. As a result of its low ROE and lack of much reinvestment into the business, the company has seen a disappointing earnings growth rate. With that said, we studied current analyst estimates and discovered that analysts expect the company's earnings growth to improve slightly. This could offer some relief to the company's existing shareholders. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page for the company.
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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