Should Weakness in TECO Electric & Machinery Co., Ltd.'s (TWSE:1504) Stock Be Seen As A Sign That Market Will Correct The Share Price Given Decent Financials?

It is hard to get excited after looking at TECO Electric & Machinery's (TWSE:1504) recent performance, when its stock has declined 8.9% over the past three months. But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. In this article, we decided to focus on TECO Electric & Machinery's ROE.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

See our latest analysis for TECO Electric & Machinery

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity 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 TECO Electric & Machinery is:

6.5% = NT$5.4b ÷ NT$83b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every NT$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of NT$0.06.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of TECO Electric & Machinery's Earnings Growth And 6.5% ROE

At first glance, TECO Electric & Machinery's ROE doesn't look very promising. We then compared the company's ROE to the broader industry and were disappointed to see that the ROE is lower than the industry average of 9.0%. TECO Electric & Machinery was still able to see a decent net income growth of 11% over the past five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

We then performed a comparison between TECO Electric & Machinery's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 13% in the same 5-year period.

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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about TECO Electric & Machinery's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is TECO Electric & Machinery Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

While TECO Electric & Machinery has a three-year median payout ratio of 67% (which means it retains 33% of profits), the company has still seen a fair bit of earnings growth in the past, meaning that its high payout ratio hasn't hampered its ability to grow.

Besides, TECO Electric & Machinery has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that TECO Electric & Machinery certainly does have some positive factors to consider. That is, quite an impressive growth in earnings. However, the low profit retention means that the company's earnings growth could have been higher, had it been reinvesting a higher portion of its profits. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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. 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.