Has Ackermans & Van Haaren NV (EBR:ACKB) Stock's Recent Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Financial Health?

Ackermans & Van Haaren's (EBR:ACKB) stock up by 5.5% over the past three months. As most would know, long-term fundamentals have a strong correlation with market price movements, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. Specifically, we decided to study Ackermans & Van Haaren's ROE in this article.

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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Ackermans & Van Haaren

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Ackermans & Van Haaren is:

8.0% = €507m ÷ €6.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every €1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated €0.08 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Ackermans & Van Haaren's Earnings Growth And 8.0% ROE

At first glance, Ackermans & Van Haaren's ROE doesn't look very promising. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 9.2%. Having said that, Ackermans & Van Haaren has shown a modest net income growth of 15% over the past five years. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

As a next step, we compared Ackermans & Van Haaren's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 15% in the same period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Ackermans & Van Haaren's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Ackermans & Van Haaren Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Ackermans & Van Haaren's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 20% (implying that it retains 80% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.

Besides, Ackermans & Van Haaren 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's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 31% over the next three years. However, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much despite the higher expected payout ratio.

Summary

In total, it does look like Ackermans & Van Haaren has some positive aspects to its business. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.

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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.