Quest Holdings S.A.'s (ATH:QUEST) Stock Has Shown Weakness Lately But Financial Prospects Look Decent: Is The Market Wrong?

It is hard to get excited after looking at Quest Holdings' (ATH:QUEST) recent performance, when its stock has declined 15% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Specifically, we decided to study Quest Holdings' ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Quest Holdings

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 Quest Holdings is:

16% = €44m ÷ €271m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every €1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn €0.16 in profit.

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. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Quest Holdings' Earnings Growth And 16% ROE

To start with, Quest Holdings' ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 11%. Probably as a result of this, Quest Holdings was able to see a decent growth of 19% over the last five years.

As a next step, we compared Quest Holdings' 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 13%.

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. If you're wondering about Quest Holdings''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Quest Holdings Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

The really high three-year median payout ratio of 138% for Quest Holdings suggests that the company is paying its shareholders more than what it is earning. In spite of this, the company was able to grow its earnings respectably, as we saw above. That being said, the high payout ratio could be worth keeping an eye on in case the company is unable to keep up its current growth momentum. To know the 2 risks we have identified for Quest Holdings visit our risks dashboard for free.

Besides, Quest Holdings has been paying dividends over a period of three years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Existing analyst estimates suggest that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 57% over the next three years. Despite the lower expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.

Summary

Overall, we feel that Quest Holdings certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Namely, its high earnings growth, which was likely due to its high ROE. However, investors could have benefitted even more from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. As discussed earlier, the company is retaining hardly any of its profits. 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.

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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.

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