Yahoo Finance Goodman Group's (ASX:GMG) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?
Goodman Group's (ASX:GMG) stock is up by a considerable 11% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Goodman Group's ROE in this article.
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
View our latest analysis for Goodman Group
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
Return on equity 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 Goodman Group is:
14% = AU$1.7b ÷ AU$12b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every A$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated A$0.14 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.
Goodman Group's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE
To start with, Goodman Group's ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 6.7% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Goodman Group's moderate 9.0% net income growth seen over the past five years.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Goodman Group's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 5.3% in the same period, which is great to see.
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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Has the market priced in the future outlook for GMG? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Goodman Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Goodman Group seems to be paying out most of its income as dividends judging by its three-year median payout ratio of 52%, meaning the company retains only 48% of its income. However, this is typical for REITs as they are often required by law to distribute most of their earnings. Despite this, the company's earnings grew moderately as we saw above.
Moreover, Goodman 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. 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 47%. However, Goodman Group's future ROE is expected to decline to 11% despite there being not much change anticipated in the company's payout ratio.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that Goodman Group's performance has been quite good. Especially the high ROE, Which has contributed to the impressive growth seen in earnings. Despite the company reinvesting only a small portion of its profits, it still has managed to grow its earnings so that is appreciable. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. 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. 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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