Could The Market Be Wrong About Kerry Group plc (ISE:KRZ) Given Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Kerry Group (ISE:KRZ) has had a rough three months with its share price down 2.6%. 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. In this article, we decided to focus on Kerry Group's ROE.

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.

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How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 Kerry Group is:

10% = €673m ÷ €6.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each €1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made €0.10 in profit.

See our latest analysis for Kerry Group

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. 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 Kerry Group's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE

To begin with, Kerry Group seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 10%. This probably goes some way in explaining Kerry Group's moderate 5.4% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.

As a next step, we compared Kerry Group's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 12% in the same period.

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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Has the market priced in the future outlook for KRZ? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Kerry Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

With a three-year median payout ratio of 28% (implying that the company retains 72% of its profits), it seems that Kerry Group is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Moreover, Kerry Group 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 is expected to keep paying out approximately 26% of its profits over the next three years. However, Kerry Group's ROE is predicted to rise to 13% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Kerry 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. As a result, the decent growth in its earnings is not surprising. That being so, the latest analyst forecasts show that the company will continue to see an expansion in its earnings. 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.