Persistent Systems Limited (NSE:PERSISTENT) Stock Has Shown Weakness Lately But Financials Look Strong: Should Prospective Shareholders Make The Leap?

It is hard to get excited after looking at Persistent Systems' (NSE:PERSISTENT) recent performance, when its stock has declined 12% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Persistent Systems' 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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Persistent Systems

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 Persistent Systems is:

22% = ₹13b ÷ ₹61b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every ₹1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₹0.22 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For 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. 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.

Persistent Systems' Earnings Growth And 22% ROE

At first glance, Persistent Systems seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 15% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to Persistent Systems' exceptional 27% net income growth seen over the past five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. 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.

We then performed a comparison between Persistent Systems' net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 26% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Persistent Systems''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Persistent Systems Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Persistent Systems has a three-year median payout ratio of 34% (where it is retaining 66% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Persistent Systems is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.

Additionally, Persistent Systems has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 39%. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Persistent Systems' future ROE will be 24% which is again, similar to the current ROE.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Persistent Systems' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.