3M India Limited's (NSE:3MINDIA) Stock Is Going Strong: Have Financials A Role To Play?

3M India's (NSE:3MINDIA) stock is up by a considerable 16% over the past 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 3M India's ROE.

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.

View our latest analysis for 3M India

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 3M India is:

30% = ₹5.0b ÷ ₹17b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 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 ₹0.30.

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. 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.

3M India's Earnings Growth And 30% ROE

First thing first, we like that 3M India has an impressive ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 12% which is quite remarkable. However, for some reason, the higher returns aren't reflected in 3M India's meagre five year net income growth average of 3.5%. This is interesting as the high returns should mean that the company has the ability to generate high growth but for some reason, it hasn't been able to do so. We reckon that a low growth, when returns are quite high could be the result of certain circumstances like low earnings retention or or poor allocation of capital.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that 3M India's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 18% over the last few years, which is not something we like to see.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is 3M India fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is 3M India Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

3M India has a low three-year median payout ratio of 25% (meaning, the company keeps the remaining 75% of profits) which means that the company is retaining more of its earnings. However, the low earnings growth number doesn't reflect this as high growth usually follows high profit retention. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

Conclusion

In total, it does look like 3M India has some positive aspects to its business. Yet, the low earnings growth is a bit concerning, especially given that the company has a high rate of return and is reinvesting ma huge portion of its profits. By the looks of it, there could be some other factors, not necessarily in control of the business, that's preventing growth. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.