Is Hengtong Optic-Electric Co., Ltd.'s (SHSE:600487) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Fundamentals In Any Way?

Hengtong Optic-Electric's (SHSE:600487) stock is up by a considerable 27% over the past 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 Hengtong Optic-Electric's ROE today.

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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Hengtong Optic-Electric

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 Hengtong Optic-Electric is:

8.3% = CN¥2.4b ÷ CN¥29b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. 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.

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 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.

Hengtong Optic-Electric's Earnings Growth And 8.3% ROE

At first glance, Hengtong Optic-Electric's ROE doesn't look very promising. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 6.3% doesn't go unnoticed by us. This probably goes some way in explaining Hengtong Optic-Electric's moderate 5.1% growth over the past five years amongst other factors. 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. For example, it is possible that the broader industry is going through a high growth phase, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

We then compared Hengtong Optic-Electric's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 15% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Hengtong Optic-Electric fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Hengtong Optic-Electric Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

In Hengtong Optic-Electric's case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 11% (or a retention ratio of 89%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Besides, Hengtong Optic-Electric 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 rise to 15% over the next three years. Still, forecasts suggest that Hengtong Optic-Electric's future ROE will rise to 11% even though the the company's payout ratio is expected to rise. We presume that there could some other characteristics of the business that could be driving the anticipated growth in the company's ROE.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Hengtong Optic-Electric certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a respectable rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. 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 company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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.