Brookfield Renewable Corporation's (TSE:BEPC) Stock Is Going Strong: Have Financials A Role To Play?

Brookfield Renewable's (TSE:BEPC) stock is up by a considerable 24% over the past month. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Brookfield Renewable's 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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Brookfield Renewable

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 Brookfield Renewable is:

2.5% = US$338m ÷ US$13b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' is the profit 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$0.03 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

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

Brookfield Renewable's Earnings Growth And 2.5% ROE

As you can see, Brookfield Renewable's ROE looks pretty weak. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 6.9%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. However, we we're pleasantly surprised to see that Brookfield Renewable grew its net income at a significant rate of 56% in the last five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons 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 Brookfield Renewable's 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 33%.

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. 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 Brookfield Renewable's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Brookfield Renewable Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Brookfield Renewable certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Even in spite of the low rate of return, the company has posted impressive earnings growth as a result of reinvesting heavily into its business. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. To know the 3 risks we have identified for Brookfield Renewable visit our risks dashboard for free.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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