EMS Limited's (NSE:EMSLIMITED) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

EMS (NSE:EMSLIMITED) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 12% over the last week. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study EMS' 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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

View our latest analysis for EMS

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 EMS is:

19% = ₹1.7b ÷ ₹8.9b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₹0.19 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

EMS' Earnings Growth And 19% ROE

At first glance, EMS seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 12% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to EMS' decent 20% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared EMS' net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 30% in the same period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if EMS is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is EMS Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

EMS has a low three-year median payout ratio of 5.0%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 95% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

While EMS has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with EMS' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of 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 1 risk we have identified for EMS by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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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.