Will Weakness in XJ Electric Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:000400) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?

XJ Electric (SZSE:000400) has had a rough month with its share price down 9.8%. However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Particularly, we will be paying attention to XJ Electric's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for XJ Electric

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for XJ Electric is:

11% = CN¥1.3b ÷ CN¥12b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.11.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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.

A Side By Side comparison of XJ Electric's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

When you first look at it, XJ Electric's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, the fact that the company's ROE is higher than the average industry ROE of 6.9%, is definitely interesting. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 20% seen over the past five years by XJ Electric. That being said, the company does have a slightly low ROE to begin with, just that it is higher than the industry average. Hence there might be some other aspects that are causing earnings to grow. Such as- high earnings retention or the company belonging to a high growth industry.

As a next step, we compared XJ Electric'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 12%.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. If you're wondering about XJ Electric's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is XJ Electric Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

XJ Electric's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 14% (implying that it retains 86% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.

Moreover, XJ Electric is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 29% over the next three years. However, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much despite the higher expected payout ratio.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that XJ Electric's performance has been quite good. 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. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com