Siemens Healthineers AG's (ETR:SHL) Stock Is Going Strong: Have Financials A Role To Play?

Siemens Healthineers (ETR:SHL) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 13% 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. In this article, we decided to focus on Siemens Healthineers' ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

Check out our latest analysis for Siemens Healthineers

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Siemens Healthineers is:

13% = €1.6b ÷ €12b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every €1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of €0.13.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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.

Siemens Healthineers' Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

At first glance, Siemens Healthineers seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 14%. Despite the modest returns, Siemens Healthineers' five year net income growth was quite low, averaging at only 4.4%. So, there could be some other factors at play that could be impacting the company's growth. For instance, the company pays out a huge portion of its earnings as dividends, or is faced with competitive pressures.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Siemens Healthineers' reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 7.0% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Has the market priced in the future outlook for SHL? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Siemens Healthineers Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Siemens Healthineers has a three-year median payout ratio of 53% (implying that it keeps only 47% of its profits), meaning that it pays out most of its profits to shareholders as dividends, and as a result, the company has seen low earnings growth.

Additionally, Siemens Healthineers started paying a dividend only recently. So it looks like the management must have perceived that shareholders favor dividends over earnings growth. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 55%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 14%.

Conclusion

In total, it does look like Siemens Healthineers has some positive aspects to its business. Yet, the low earnings growth is a bit concerning, especially given that the company has a high rate of return. Investors could have benefitted from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. As discussed earlier, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. 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.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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