Stock Analysis

Lian Hwa Foods Corporation's (TPE:1231) Recent Stock Performance Looks Decent- Can Strong Fundamentals Be the Reason?

TWSE:1231
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Lian Hwa Foods' (TPE:1231) stock is up by 5.8% over the past three months. Given its impressive performance, we decided to study the company's key financial indicators as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Lian Hwa Foods' 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 Lian Hwa Foods

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Lian Hwa Foods is:

17% = NT$652m ÷ NT$3.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every NT$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated NT$0.17 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 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 Lian Hwa Foods' Earnings Growth And 17% ROE

To start with, Lian Hwa Foods' ROE looks acceptable. Especially when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to Lian Hwa Foods' decent 8.8% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared Lian Hwa Foods' 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 7.3% in the same period.

past-earnings-growth
TSEC:1231 Past Earnings Growth January 26th 2021

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. If you're wondering about Lian Hwa Foods''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Lian Hwa Foods Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

The high three-year median payout ratio of 55% (or a retention ratio of 45%) for Lian Hwa Foods suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders.

Besides, Lian Hwa Foods 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

In total, we are pretty happy with Lian Hwa Foods' performance. We are particularly impressed by the considerable earnings growth posted by the company, which was likely backed by its high ROE. While the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends, it has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's probably a good sign. Up till now, we've only made a short study of the company's growth data. You can do your own research on Lian Hwa Foods and see how it has performed in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.

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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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