Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In Mowi ASA's (OB:MOWI) Stock?

Most readers would already be aware that Mowi's (OB:MOWI) stock increased significantly by 11% over the past 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. Specifically, we decided to study Mowi'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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

See our latest analysis for Mowi

How To 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 Mowi is:

21% = €785m ÷ €3.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every NOK1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated NOK0.21 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 Mowi's Earnings Growth And 21% ROE

To begin with, Mowi has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 15% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. This probably laid the groundwork for Mowi's moderate 6.0% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared Mowi's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 6.9% 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. Is MOWI fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Mowi Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

With a three-year median payout ratio of 44% (implying that the company retains 56% of its profits), it seems that Mowi is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Additionally, Mowi 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. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 66% over the next three years. Consequently, the higher expected payout ratio explains the decline in the company's expected ROE (to 17%) over the same period.

Summary

On the whole, we feel that Mowi'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. 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 latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.