Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten Co., Ltd.'s (SZSE:002378) Stock Has Seen Strong Momentum: Does That Call For Deeper Study Of Its Financial Prospects?

Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten (SZSE:002378) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 34% over the last 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. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten'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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

See our latest analysis for Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten is:

8.4% = CN¥178m ÷ CN¥2.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every CN¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CN¥0.08 in profit.

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 everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

A Side By Side comparison of Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten's Earnings Growth And 8.4% ROE

On the face of it, Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten's ROE is not much to talk about. However, its ROE is similar to the industry average of 7.5%, so we won't completely dismiss the company. Looking at Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten's exceptional 49% five-year net income growth in particular, we are definitely impressed. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

We then compared Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten's 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 9.8% in the same 5-year period.

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

Is Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 52%, meaning the company only retains 48% of its income. This implies that the company has been able to achieve high earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Besides, Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 20% over the next three years. The fact that the company's ROE is expected to rise to 13% over the same period is explained by the drop in the payout ratio.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten certainly does have some positive factors to consider. While no doubt its earnings growth is pretty substantial, we do feel that the reinvestment rate is pretty low, meaning, the earnings growth number could have been significantly higher had the company been retaining more of its profits. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.