Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd.'s (KRX:011780) Stock?

Kumho Petrochemical (KRX:011780) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 66% over the last three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Kumho Petrochemical's ROE today.

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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

See our latest analysis for Kumho Petrochemical

How Do You 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 Kumho Petrochemical is:

13% = ₩370b ÷ ₩2.9t (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every ₩1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₩0.13 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

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

Kumho Petrochemical's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

To begin with, Kumho Petrochemical seems to have a respectable ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 8.2% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Kumho Petrochemical was able to see an impressive net income growth of 24% over the last five years. However, there could also be other causes behind this growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

We then compared Kumho Petrochemical's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 7.7% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. What is A011780 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether A011780 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Kumho Petrochemical Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Kumho Petrochemical's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 14%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 86% of its profits. So it looks like Kumho Petrochemical is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.

Besides, Kumho Petrochemical has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 9.2% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Kumho Petrochemical's payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 20%, over the same period.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Kumho Petrochemical's 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. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. 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. 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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