Yahoo Finance Heineken N.V.'s (AMS:HEIA) Stock Is Going Strong: Is the Market Following Fundamentals?
Heineken (AMS:HEIA) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 12% over the last three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study Heineken's ROE in this article.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
Check out our latest analysis for Heineken
How Do You 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 Heineken is:
14% = €3.0b ÷ €22b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each €1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made €0.14 in profit.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.
Heineken's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE
To start with, Heineken's ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to Heineken's decent 9.8% net income growth seen over the past five years.
Next, on comparing Heineken's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 9.2% in the same period.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. What is HEIA worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether HEIA is currently mispriced by the market.
Is Heineken Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
With a three-year median payout ratio of 38% (implying that the company retains 62% of its profits), it seems that Heineken is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.
Additionally, Heineken has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with 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 35%. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Heineken's future ROE will be 16% which is again, similar to the current ROE.
Conclusion
In total, we are pretty happy with Heineken's performance. 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 sizeable growth in its earnings. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.
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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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