Aubay Société Anonyme's (EPA:AUB) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

Aubay Société Anonyme (EPA:AUB) has had a rough three months with its share price down 8.2%. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Aubay Société Anonyme's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

See our latest analysis for Aubay Société Anonyme

How To 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 Aubay Société Anonyme is:

14% = €30m ÷ €215m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each €1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made €0.14 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. 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.

Aubay Société Anonyme's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

At first glance, Aubay Société Anonyme seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 12%. This probably goes some way in explaining Aubay Société Anonyme's moderate 6.6% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.

We then compared Aubay Société Anonyme'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 4.9% in the same period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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 AUB fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Aubay Société Anonyme Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Aubay Société Anonyme has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 30% (or a retention ratio of 70%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Additionally, Aubay Société Anonyme has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 31%. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Aubay Société Anonyme's future ROE will be 14% which is again, similar to the current ROE.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Aubay Société Anonyme'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. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company's earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. 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.