Is Spire Healthcare Group plc's (LON:SPI) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Fundamentals In Any Way?

Spire Healthcare Group (LON:SPI) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 25% over the last three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Spire Healthcare Group's ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

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 Spire Healthcare Group is:

3.5% = UK£26m ÷ UK£746m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every £1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn £0.03 in profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Spire Healthcare Group

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Spire Healthcare Group's Earnings Growth And 3.5% ROE

It is hard to argue that Spire Healthcare Group's ROE is much good in and of itself. Even when compared to the industry average of 7.5%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Despite this, surprisingly, Spire Healthcare Group saw an exceptional 72% net income growth over the past five years. We believe that there might 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.

As a next step, we compared Spire Healthcare Group's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 23%.

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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Spire Healthcare Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Spire Healthcare Group Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

The three-year median payout ratio for Spire Healthcare Group is 30%, which is moderately low. The company is retaining the remaining 70%. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Spire Healthcare Group is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.

Additionally, Spire Healthcare Group 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 25%. Still, forecasts suggest that Spire Healthcare Group's future ROE will rise to 11% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Summary

In total, it does look like Spire Healthcare Group has some positive aspects to its business. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. 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. 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.