Stride Stapled Group's (NZSE:SPG) Stock Financial Prospects Look Bleak: Should Shareholders Be Prepared For A Share Price Correction?

Most readers would already know that Stride Stapled Group's (NZSE:SPG) stock increased by 1.7% over the past three months. Given that the markets usually pay for the long-term financial health of a company, we wonder if the current momentum in the share price will keep up, given that the company's financials don't look very promising. In this article, we decided to focus on Stride Stapled Group's ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Stride Stapled Group

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Stride Stapled Group is:

6.8% = NZ$50m ÷ NZ$733m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every NZ$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated NZ$0.07 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.

Stride Stapled Group's Earnings Growth And 6.8% ROE

On the face of it, Stride Stapled Group's ROE is not much to talk about. However, given that the company's ROE is similar to the average industry ROE of 8.4%, we may spare it some thought. But Stride Stapled Group saw a five year net income decline of 10% over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company does have a slightly low ROE. Hence, this goes some way in explaining the shrinking earnings.

So, as a next step, we compared Stride Stapled Group's performance against the industry and were disappointed to discover that while the company has been shrinking its earnings, the industry has been growing its earnings at a rate of 10% in the same period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Stride Stapled Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Stride Stapled Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

With a three-year median payout ratio as high as 109%,Stride Stapled Group's shrinking earnings don't come as a surprise as the company is paying a dividend which is beyond its means. Its usually very hard to sustain dividend payments that are higher than reported profits. You can see the 4 risks we have identified for Stride Stapled Group by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

In addition, Stride Stapled Group has been paying dividends over a period of four years suggesting that keeping up dividend payments is preferred by the management even though earnings have been in decline. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 92%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 5.6%.

Summary

In total, we would have a hard think before deciding on any investment action concerning Stride Stapled Group. Particularly, its ROE is a huge disappointment, not to mention its lack of proper reinvestment into the business. As a result its earnings growth has also been quite disappointing. Having said that, we studied the latest analyst forecasts, and found that analysts are expecting the company's earnings growth to improve slightly. Sure enough, this could bring some relief to shareholders. 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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