Do Fundamentals Have Any Role To Play In Driving Aegis Logistics Limited's (NSE:AEGISCHEM) Stock Up Recently?

Aegis Logistics' (NSE:AEGISCHEM) stock up by 9.3% over the past three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to investigate if the company's decent financials had a hand to play in the recent price move. In this article, we decided to focus on Aegis Logistics' ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Aegis Logistics

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Aegis Logistics is:

12% = ₹4.5b ÷ ₹38b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every ₹1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₹0.12 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 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 Aegis Logistics' Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

On the face of it, Aegis Logistics' ROE is not much to talk about. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 12%. Even so, Aegis Logistics has shown a fairly decent growth in its net income which grew at a rate of 19%. Given the slightly low ROE, it is likely that there could be some other aspects that are driving this growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

As a next step, we compared Aegis Logistics' net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 23% in the same period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. 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 Aegis Logistics is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Aegis Logistics Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Aegis Logistics has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 29% (or a retention ratio of 71%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Moreover, Aegis Logistics 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. Existing analyst estimates suggest that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 22% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Aegis Logistics' payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 17%, over the same period.

Summary

In total, it does look like Aegis Logistics has some positive aspects to its business. With a high rate of reinvestment, albeit at a low ROE, the company has managed to see a considerable growth in its earnings. On studying current analyst estimates, we found that analysts expect the company to continue its recent growth streak. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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.