ResMed Inc.'s (NYSE:RMD) Recent Stock Performance Looks Decent- Can Strong Fundamentals Be the Reason?

ResMed's (NYSE:RMD) stock up by 9.0% 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. Specifically, we decided to study ResMed's ROE in this article.

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

See our latest analysis for ResMed

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 ResMed is:

21% = US$958m ÷ US$4.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.21.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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. 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 ResMed's Earnings Growth And 21% ROE

At first glance, ResMed seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This certainly adds some context to ResMed's decent 16% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared ResMed's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 8.7%.

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. What is RMD worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether RMD is currently mispriced by the market.

Is ResMed Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

With a three-year median payout ratio of 31% (implying that the company retains 69% of its profits), it seems that ResMed is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees respectable amount growth in its earnings and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Besides, ResMed has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 29% of its profits over the next three years. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that ResMed's future ROE will be 22% which is again, similar to the current ROE.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that ResMed's performance has been quite good. 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. On studying current analyst estimates, we found that analysts expect the company to continue its recent growth streak. 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com