Nicolás Correa, S.A.'s (BME:NEA) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

With its stock down 3.0% over the past month, it is easy to disregard Nicolás Correa (BME:NEA). However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Nicolás Correa's ROE in this article.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Nicolás Correa

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 Nicolás Correa is:

13% = €7.2m ÷ €56m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every €1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn €0.13 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

Nicolás Correa's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

At first glance, Nicolás Correa seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 8.1% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Nicolás Correa's significant 37% net income growth seen over the past five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

Given that the industry shrunk its earnings at a rate of 2.0% in the same period, the net income growth of the company is quite impressive.

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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. 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 Nicolás Correa is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Nicolás Correa Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Nicolás Correa has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 21%, meaning that it has the remaining 79% left over to reinvest into its business. So it looks like Nicolás Correa is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.

While Nicolás Correa has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 29% over the next three years. Despite the higher expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Nicolás Correa's performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. 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.

When trading Nicolás Correa or any other investment, use the platform considered by many to be the Professional's Gateway to the Worlds Market, Interactive Brokers. You get the lowest-cost* trading on stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds worldwide from a single integrated account. Promoted

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.
^*Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.