Is Ocean Bio-Chem, Inc.'s(NASDAQ:OBCI) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

Ocean Bio-Chem's (NASDAQ:OBCI) stock is up by a considerable 9.0% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Ocean Bio-Chem's 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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

See our latest analysis for Ocean Bio-Chem

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 Ocean Bio-Chem is:

17% = US$5.9m ÷ US$34m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.17.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 Ocean Bio-Chem's Earnings Growth And 17% ROE

To start with, Ocean Bio-Chem's ROE looks acceptable. Even so, when compared with the average industry ROE of 22%, we aren't very excited. That being the case, the significant five-year 28% net income growth reported by Ocean Bio-Chem comes as a pleasant surprise. Therefore, there could be other causes behind this growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place. Bear in mind, the company does have a respectable ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is higher. So this certainly also provides some context to the high earnings growth seen by the company.

We then compared Ocean Bio-Chem's 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 6.1% in the same period.

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Ocean Bio-Chem is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Ocean Bio-Chem Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Ocean Bio-Chem's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 3.2%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 97% of its profits. So it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business and this reflects in its earnings growth number.

Moreover, Ocean Bio-Chem is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of four years of paying a dividend.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Ocean Bio-Chem's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business at a moderate rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Remember, the price of a stock is also dependent on the perceived risk. Therefore investors must keep themselves informed about the risks involved before investing in any company. You can see the 1 risk we have identified for Ocean Bio-Chem by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

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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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