Are Strong Financial Prospects The Force That Is Driving The Momentum In Australian Agricultural Projects Ltd's ASX:AAP) Stock?

Australian Agricultural Projects (ASX:AAP) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 40% over the last week. 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. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Australian Agricultural Projects' ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Australian Agricultural Projects

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 Australian Agricultural Projects is:

9.9% = AU$1.3m ÷ AU$13m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.10 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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.

Australian Agricultural Projects' Earnings Growth And 9.9% ROE

At first glance, Australian Agricultural Projects' ROE doesn't look very promising. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 8.0% doesn't go unnoticed by us. Particularly, the substantial 57% net income growth seen by Australian Agricultural Projects over the past five years is impressive . Bear in mind, the company does have a moderately low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Hence, there might be some other aspects that are causing earnings to grow. For example, it is possible that the broader industry is going through a high growth phase, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

As a next step, we compared Australian Agricultural Projects' 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 3.3%.

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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. 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 Australian Agricultural Projects is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Australian Agricultural Projects Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Given that Australian Agricultural Projects doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, we infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Australian Agricultural Projects' performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company has seen significant growth in its earnings backed by a respectable ROE and a high reinvestment rate. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Not to forget, share price outcomes are also dependent on the potential risks a company may face. So it is important for investors to be aware of the risks involved in the business. To know the 5 risks we have identified for Australian Agricultural Projects visit our risks dashboard for free.

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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.