Is Shenzhen International Holdings Limited's (HKG:152) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?

Most readers would already be aware that Shenzhen International Holdings' (HKG:152) stock increased significantly by 8.1% over the past month. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Shenzhen International 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.

See our latest analysis for Shenzhen International Holdings

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Shenzhen International Holdings is:

14% = HK$6.5b ÷ HK$46b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every HK$1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn HK$0.14 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. 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.

Shenzhen International Holdings' Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To start with, Shenzhen International Holdings' ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 5.7% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Shenzhen International Holdings' significant 23% net income growth seen over the past five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

As a next step, we compared Shenzhen International 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 5.2%.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. If you're wondering about Shenzhen International Holdings''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Shenzhen International Holdings Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Shenzhen International Holdings has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 23%, meaning that it has the remaining 77% left over to reinvest into its business. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

Moreover, Shenzhen International Holdings is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 51% over the next three years. Consequently, the higher expected payout ratio explains the decline in the company's expected ROE (to 11%) over the same period.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Shenzhen International Holdings' performance. 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. Having said that, on studying current analyst estimates, we were concerned to see that while the company has grown its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to shrink in the future. 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. 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.
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