Hiwin Technologies Corporation's (TWSE:2049) Stock On An Uptrend: Could Fundamentals Be Driving The Momentum?

Hiwin Technologies (TWSE:2049) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 22% over the last three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Hiwin Technologies' 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Hiwin Technologies

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 Hiwin Technologies is:

5.1% = NT$1.9b ÷ NT$36b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every NT$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of NT$0.05.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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. 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.

Hiwin Technologies' Earnings Growth And 5.1% ROE

At first glance, Hiwin Technologies' ROE doesn't look very promising. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 9.8%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. However, the moderate 5.6% net income growth seen by Hiwin Technologies over the past five years is definitely a positive. 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.

As a next step, we compared Hiwin Technologies' net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 11% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is 2049 worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether 2049 is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Hiwin Technologies Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Hiwin Technologies has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 43% (or a retention ratio of 57%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Moreover, Hiwin Technologies is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 35%. However, Hiwin Technologies' ROE is predicted to rise to 8.6% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Hiwin Technologies has some positive attributes. That is, a decent growth in earnings backed by a high rate of reinvestment. However, we do feel that that earnings growth could have been higher if the business were to improve on the low ROE rate. Especially given how the company is reinvesting a huge chunk 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.