Will Weakness in Spigen Korea Co., Ltd.'s (KOSDAQ:192440) Stock Prove Temporary Given Strong Fundamentals?

With its stock down 17% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Spigen Korea (KOSDAQ:192440). 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 Spigen Korea's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Spigen Korea

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Spigen Korea is:

19% = ₩64b ÷ ₩342b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

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 ₩0.19 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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 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.

Spigen Korea's Earnings Growth And 19% ROE

To start with, Spigen Korea's ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 6.1% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This probably laid the ground for Spigen Korea's moderate 6.1% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared Spigen Korea'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 4.6% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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 Spigen Korea's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Spigen Korea Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Spigen Korea's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 16% (implying that it retains 84% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.

While Spigen Korea has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 22% over the next three years. Therefore, the expected rise in the payout ratio explains why the company's ROE is expected to decline to 15% over the same period.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Spigen Korea's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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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