Has Schaffner Holding AG's (VTX:SAHN) Impressive Stock Performance Got Anything to Do With Its Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that Schaffner Holding's (VTX:SAHN) stock increased significantly by 32% over the past three months. As most would know, fundamentals are what usually guide market price movements over the long-term, 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. In this article, we decided to focus on Schaffner Holding's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for Schaffner Holding

How Do You 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 Schaffner Holding is:

11% = CHF6.7m ÷ CHF63m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2021).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CHF1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CHF0.11 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.

Schaffner Holding's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

To begin with, Schaffner Holding seems to have a respectable ROE. Be that as it may, the company's ROE is still quite lower than the industry average of 14%. On further research, we found that Schaffner Holding's net income growth of 3.5% over the past five years is quite low. Not to forget, the company does have a decent ROE to begin with, just that it is lower than the industry average. So there might be other reasons for the earnings growth to be low. For example, it could be that the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Schaffner Holding's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 7.5% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. 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 Schaffner Holding is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Schaffner Holding Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Despite having a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 46% (implying that the company retains the remaining 54% of its income), Schaffner Holding's earnings growth was quite low. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

In addition, Schaffner Holding has been paying dividends over a period of at least ten years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is way more important to the management even if it comes at the cost of business growth.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Schaffner Holding has some positive attributes. Although, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a moderate ROE and and a high reinvestment rate. We believe that there might be some outside factors that could be having a negative impact on the business. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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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