Could The Market Be Wrong About Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) Given Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Atkore (NYSE:ATKR) has had a rough three months with its share price down 31%. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. In this article, we decided to focus on Atkore's ROE.

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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Atkore

How To 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 Atkore is:

25% = US$381m ÷ US$1.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.25 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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. 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 Atkore's Earnings Growth And 25% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Atkore has a significantly high ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 9.5% the company's ROE is quite impressive. Probably as a result of this, Atkore was able to see a decent net income growth of 18% over the last five years.

Next, on comparing Atkore's net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 17% over the last few years.

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 ATKR fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Atkore Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Atkore has a low three-year median payout ratio of 6.0%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 94% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

While Atkore has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to rise to 8.6% over the next three years. Therefore, the expected rise in the payout ratio explains why the company's ROE is expected to decline to 13% over the same period.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Atkore's performance. 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. Having said that, on studying current analyst estimates, we were concerned to see that while the company has grown its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings 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.