Stock Analysis

Is Volution Group plc's (LON:FAN) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

LSE:FAN
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Most readers would already be aware that Volution Group's (LON:FAN) stock increased significantly by 19% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Volution Group'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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

See our latest analysis for Volution Group

How To 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 Volution Group is:

18% = UK£42m ÷ UK£235m (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every £1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of £0.18.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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.

Volution Group's Earnings Growth And 18% ROE

To start with, Volution Group's ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Volution Group was able to see an impressive net income growth of 26% over the last five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

We then compared Volution Group'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 4.7% in the same 5-year period.

past-earnings-growth
LSE:FAN Past Earnings Growth August 24th 2024

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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. Is Volution Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Volution Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Volution Group has a three-year median payout ratio of 42% (where it is retaining 58% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that Volution Group is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Besides, Volution Group has been paying dividends over a period of nine years. 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 drop to 32% over the next three years. Despite the lower expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Volution Group's performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.