Hygon Information Technology Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:688041) Recent Stock Performance Looks Decent- Can Strong Fundamentals Be the Reason?

Hygon Information Technology's (SHSE:688041) stock up by 4.1% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term financial health, we decided to study the company’s fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on Hygon Information Technology'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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Hygon Information Technology

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Hygon Information Technology is:

8.5% = CN¥1.8b ÷ CN¥21b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every CN¥1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CN¥0.08 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. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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.

Hygon Information Technology's Earnings Growth And 8.5% ROE

At first glance, Hygon Information Technology's ROE doesn't look very promising. Although a closer study shows that the company's ROE is higher than the industry average of 5.8% which we definitely can't overlook. Even more so after seeing Hygon Information Technology's exceptional 47% net income growth over the past five years. 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 Hygon Information Technology'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 20% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Hygon Information Technology fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Hygon Information Technology Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Hygon Information Technology has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 10%, meaning that it has the remaining 90% left over to reinvest into its business. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

While Hygon Information Technology has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 3.6% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Hygon Information Technology's payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 11%, over the same period.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Hygon Information Technology's performance. 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. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.