Agro Tech Foods Limited's (NSE:ATFL) Fundamentals Look Pretty Strong: Could The Market Be Wrong About The Stock?

Agro Tech Foods (NSE:ATFL) has had a rough three months with its share price down 6.5%. But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Agro Tech Foods' ROE today.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

See our latest analysis for Agro Tech Foods

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 Agro Tech Foods is:

7.8% = ₹328m ÷ ₹4.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

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 ₹0.08.

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.

Agro Tech Foods' Earnings Growth And 7.8% ROE

As you can see, Agro Tech Foods' ROE looks pretty weak. Further, we noted that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 9.6%. As a result, Agro Tech Foods' decent 8.9% net income growth seen over the past five years bodes well with us. Considering the low ROE, it is quite possible that there might also be some other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

We then compared Agro Tech Foods' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 19% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Agro Tech Foods''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Agro Tech Foods Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

In Agro Tech Foods' case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 18% (or a retention ratio of 82%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Besides, Agro Tech Foods has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

In total, it does look like Agro Tech Foods has some positive aspects to its business. That is, a decent growth in earnings backed by a high rate of reinvestment. However, we do feel that that earnings growth could have been higher if the business were to improve on the low ROE rate. Especially given how the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits. 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. 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.
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