Hindprakash Industries Limited (NSE:HPIL) Stock Is Going Strong But Fundamentals Look Uncertain: What Lies Ahead ?

Hindprakash Industries' (NSE:HPIL) stock is up by a considerable 11% over the past week. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Hindprakash Industries' ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

Our free stock report includes 6 warning signs investors should be aware of before investing in Hindprakash Industries. Read for free now.

How To 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 Hindprakash Industries is:

2.9% = ₹15m ÷ ₹510m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₹0.03 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Hindprakash Industries

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Hindprakash Industries' Earnings Growth And 2.9% ROE

As you can see, Hindprakash Industries' ROE looks pretty weak. Even when compared to the industry average of 10%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Given the circumstances, the significant decline in net income by 8.4% seen by Hindprakash Industries over the last five years is not surprising. We believe that there also might be other aspects that are negatively influencing the company's earnings prospects. For instance, the company has a very high payout ratio, or is faced with competitive pressures.

However, when we compared Hindprakash Industries' growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 12% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Hindprakash Industries fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Hindprakash Industries Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Looking at its three-year median payout ratio of 34% (or a retention ratio of 66%) which is pretty normal, Hindprakash Industries' declining earnings is rather baffling as one would expect to see a fair bit of growth when a company is retaining a good portion of its profits. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.

In addition, Hindprakash Industries has been paying dividends over a period of five years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is preferred by the management even though earnings have been in decline.

Conclusion

In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Hindprakash Industries' performance. While the company does have a high rate of profit retention, its low rate of return is probably hampering its earnings growth. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. You can see the 6 risks we have identified for Hindprakash Industries 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.