Is Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited's (TSE:FFH) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?

Fairfax Financial Holdings (TSE:FFH) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 13% 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 Fairfax Financial Holdings' ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Fairfax Financial Holdings

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Fairfax Financial Holdings is:

16% = US$4.6b ÷ US$29b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CA$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CA$0.16 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. 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.

Fairfax Financial Holdings' Earnings Growth And 16% ROE

To start with, Fairfax Financial Holdings' ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 14%. This probably goes some way in explaining Fairfax Financial Holdings' significant 34% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. However, there could also be other drivers 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 Fairfax Financial Holdings' 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 13%.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Fairfax Financial Holdings''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Fairfax Financial Holdings Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Fairfax Financial Holdings has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 8.0%, meaning that it has the remaining 92% left over to reinvest into its business. So it looks like Fairfax Financial Holdings is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.

Besides, Fairfax Financial Holdings has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 14% over the next three years. Therefore, the expected rise in the payout ratio explains why the company's ROE is expected to decline to 8.3% over the same period.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Fairfax Financial Holdings' performance has been quite good. 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. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. 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.