Chengdu Leejun Industrial Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:002651) Stock Has Seen Strong Momentum: Does That Call For Deeper Study Of Its Financial Prospects?

Most readers would already be aware that Chengdu Leejun Industrial's (SZSE:002651) stock increased significantly by 12% over the past week. 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 Chengdu Leejun Industrial's ROE.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Chengdu Leejun Industrial

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 Chengdu Leejun Industrial is:

3.6% = CN¥99m ÷ CN¥2.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.04 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. 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. 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.

Chengdu Leejun Industrial's Earnings Growth And 3.6% ROE

It is quite clear that Chengdu Leejun Industrial's ROE is rather low. Even compared to the average industry ROE of 6.9%, the company's ROE is quite dismal. Chengdu Leejun Industrial was still able to see a decent net income growth of 6.2% over the past five years. Therefore, the growth in earnings could probably have been caused by other variables. 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 Chengdu Leejun Industrial's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 9.5% in the same period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. Is 002651 fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Chengdu Leejun Industrial Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Chengdu Leejun Industrial has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 33% (or a retention ratio of 67%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Moreover, Chengdu Leejun Industrial 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.

Summary

Overall, we feel that Chengdu Leejun Industrial certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Namely, its respectable earnings growth, which it achieved due to it retaining most of its profits. However, given the low ROE, investors may not be benefitting from all that reinvestment after all. 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. You can see the 3 risks we have identified for Chengdu Leejun Industrial by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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

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