Guangdong Huate Gas Co., Ltd's (SHSE:688268) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

Guangdong Huate Gas (SHSE:688268) has had a rough three months with its share price down 15%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Guangdong Huate Gas' 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.

See our latest analysis for Guangdong Huate Gas

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Guangdong Huate Gas is:

9.8% = CN¥193m ÷ CN¥2.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.10.

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. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Guangdong Huate Gas' Earnings Growth And 9.8% ROE

On the face of it, Guangdong Huate Gas' ROE is not much to talk about. Although a closer study shows that the company's ROE is higher than the industry average of 6.4% which we definitely can't overlook. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 20% seen over the past five years by Guangdong Huate Gas. Bear in mind, the company does have a moderately low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. So there might well be other reasons for the earnings to grow. Such as- high earnings retention or the company belonging to a high growth industry.

We then compared Guangdong Huate Gas' net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 6.2% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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 Guangdong Huate Gas is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Guangdong Huate Gas Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Guangdong Huate Gas has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 30% (or a retention ratio of 70%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Additionally, Guangdong Huate Gas has paid dividends over a period of four years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 30%. However, Guangdong Huate Gas' ROE is predicted to rise to 15% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Guangdong Huate Gas' 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. That being so, the latest analyst forecasts show that the company will continue to see an expansion in its earnings. 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. 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.