Isras Investment Company Ltd's (TLV:ISRS) Recent Stock Performance Looks Decent- Can Strong Fundamentals Be the Reason?

Isras Investment's (TLV:ISRS) stock up by 7.7% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term financial health, we decided to study the company’s fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Isras Investment's ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Isras Investment

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 Isras Investment is:

10% = ₪466m ÷ ₪4.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every ₪1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of ₪0.10.

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.

Isras Investment's Earnings Growth And 10% ROE

To start with, Isras Investment's ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 10%. This probably goes some way in explaining Isras Investment's moderate 11% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.

As a next step, we compared Isras Investment'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 20% in the same period.

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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for ISRS? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report

Is Isras Investment Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Isras Investment has a three-year median payout ratio of 42%, which implies that it retains the remaining 58% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

Additionally, Isras Investment 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.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Isras Investment's performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a respectable growth in its earnings. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Let's not forget, business risk is also one of the factors that affects the price of the stock. So this is also an important area that investors need to pay attention to before making a decision on any business. You can see the 4 risks we have identified for Isras Investment by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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.