Yahoo Finance Weng Fine Art AG (FRA:WFA) Is Up But Financials Look Inconsistent: Which Way Is The Stock Headed?
Most readers would already know that Weng Fine Art's (FRA:WFA) stock increased by 2.3% over the past month. Given that the stock prices usually follow long-term business performance, we wonder if the company's mixed financials could have any adverse effect on its current price price movement In this article, we decided to focus on Weng Fine Art's ROE.
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.
See our latest analysis for Weng Fine Art
How To 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 Weng Fine Art is:
3.7% = €619k ÷ €17m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each €1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made €0.04 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.
Weng Fine Art's Earnings Growth And 3.7% ROE
When you first look at it, Weng Fine Art's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 4.6%, we may spare it some thought. Still, Weng Fine Art has seen a flat net income growth over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company's ROE is not very high. Hence, this provides some context to the flat earnings growth seen by the company.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Weng Fine Art's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 4.1% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.
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. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Weng Fine Art is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is Weng Fine Art Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Weng Fine Art's low three-year median payout ratio of 16% (implying that the company keeps84% of its income) should mean that the company is retaining most of its earnings to fuel its growth and this should be reflected in its growth number, but that's not the case.
Moreover, Weng Fine Art has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth.
Summary
In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Weng Fine Art's performance. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. So far, we've only made a quick discussion around the company's earnings growth. So it may be worth checking this free detailed graph of Weng Fine Art's past earnings, as well as revenue and cash flows to get a deeper insight into the company's performance.
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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.
