Dalmia Bharat Limited (NSE:DALBHARAT) Stock's Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Decent: Will The Market Correct The Share Price In The Future?

It is hard to get excited after looking at Dalmia Bharat's (NSE:DALBHARAT) recent performance, when its stock has declined 11% over the past month. 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. Specifically, we decided to study Dalmia Bharat'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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

Check out our latest analysis for Dalmia Bharat

How To 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 Dalmia Bharat is:

4.4% = ₹7.8b ÷ ₹176b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every ₹1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₹0.04 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.

Dalmia Bharat's Earnings Growth And 4.4% ROE

As you can see, Dalmia Bharat's ROE looks pretty weak. Not just that, even compared to the industry average of 6.5%, the company's ROE is entirely unremarkable. Dalmia Bharat was still able to see a decent net income growth of 13% over the past five years. Therefore, the growth in earnings could probably have been caused by other variables. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Dalmia Bharat's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 5.5% in the same period, which is great to see.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Dalmia Bharat fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Dalmia Bharat Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Dalmia Bharat has a low three-year median payout ratio of 16%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 84% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

Moreover, Dalmia Bharat is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of five years of paying a dividend. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 14%. Still, forecasts suggest that Dalmia Bharat's future ROE will rise to 7.0% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Dalmia Bharat has some positive attributes. Even in spite of the low rate of return, the company has posted impressive earnings growth as a result of reinvesting heavily into its business. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.