Mahamaya Steel Industries Limited's (NSE:MAHASTEEL) Stock On An Uptrend: Could Fundamentals Be Driving The Momentum?

Mahamaya Steel Industries (NSE:MAHASTEEL) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 100% over the last three months. As most would know, fundamentals are what usually guide market price movements over the long-term, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. Specifically, we decided to study Mahamaya Steel Industries' 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.

See our latest analysis for Mahamaya Steel Industries

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 Mahamaya Steel Industries is:

4.2% = ₹59m ÷ ₹1.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. 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?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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.

Mahamaya Steel Industries' Earnings Growth And 4.2% ROE

It is hard to argue that Mahamaya Steel Industries' ROE is much good in and of itself. Even when compared to the industry average of 13%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. However, we we're pleasantly surprised to see that Mahamaya Steel Industries grew its net income at a significant rate of 26% in the last five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons behind this growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

We then performed a comparison between Mahamaya Steel Industries' net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 28% in the same 5-year 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 Mahamaya Steel Industries is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Mahamaya Steel Industries Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Mahamaya Steel Industries doesn't pay any regular dividends currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Mahamaya Steel Industries certainly does have some positive factors to consider. 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. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. You can see the 1 risk we have identified for Mahamaya Steel 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.