Is Iluka Resources Limited's (ASX:ILU) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 10% 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. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Iluka Resources' ROE today.

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.

See our latest analysis for Iluka Resources

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 Iluka Resources is:

16% = AU$343m ÷ AU$2.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every A$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of A$0.16.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. 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.

Iluka Resources' Earnings Growth And 16% ROE

To begin with, Iluka Resources seems to have a respectable ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 10% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Iluka Resources was able to see an impressive net income growth of 31% over the last five years. However, there could also be other causes behind this growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

As a next step, we compared Iluka Resources' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 20%.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). 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 ILU? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Iluka Resources Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Iluka Resources has a three-year median payout ratio of 30% (where it is retaining 70% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that Iluka Resources is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Besides, Iluka Resources has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 32% of its profits over the next three years. Regardless, Iluka Resources' ROE is speculated to decline to 8.7% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Iluka Resources' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. 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.