Honeywell Automation India Limited's (NSE:HONAUT) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

Honeywell Automation India's (NSE:HONAUT) stock is up by a considerable 45% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. In this article, we decided to focus on Honeywell Automation India's ROE.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Honeywell Automation India

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Honeywell Automation India is:

20% = ₹4.6b ÷ ₹23b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made ₹0.20 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Honeywell Automation India's Earnings Growth And 20% ROE

At first glance, Honeywell Automation India seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 6.4%. This probably laid the ground for Honeywell Automation India's significant 30% net income growth seen over the past five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Honeywell Automation India's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 12% in the same period, which is great to see.

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). 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 Honeywell Automation India is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Honeywell Automation India Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Honeywell Automation India's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 11%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 89% of its profits. So it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business and this reflects in its earnings growth number.

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

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Honeywell Automation India's performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Remember, the price of a stock is also dependent on the perceived risk. Therefore investors must keep themselves informed about the risks involved before investing in any company. To know the 1 risk we have identified for Honeywell Automation India visit our risks dashboard for free.

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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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