Handsman Co., Ltd. (TYO:7636) On An Uptrend: Could Fundamentals Be Driving The Stock?

Handsman's (TYO:7636) stock up by 3.5% over the past three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. Specifically, we decided to study Handsman's ROE in this article.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

See our latest analysis for Handsman

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Handsman is:

14% = JP¥2.0b ÷ JP¥14b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every ¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of ¥0.14.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 Handsman's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To start with, Handsman's ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 9.1% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Yet, Handsman has posted measly growth of 3.9% over the past five years. This is interesting as the high returns should mean that the company has the ability to generate high growth but for some reason, it hasn't been able to do so. Such a scenario is likely to take place when a company pays out a huge portion of its earnings as dividends, or is faced with competitive pressures.

We then compared Handsman's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 5.0% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Handsman fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Handsman Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Handsman doesn't pay any dividend, which means that it is retaining all of its earnings. However, this doesn't explain the low earnings growth the company has seen. So there could be some other explanation in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Handsman has some positive attributes. However, given the high ROE and high profit retention, we would expect the company to be delivering strong earnings growth, but that isn't the case here. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering its growth.

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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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