Do Fundamentals Have Any Role To Play In Driving Corteva, Inc.'s (NYSE:CTVA) Stock Up Recently?

Most readers would already know that Corteva's (NYSE:CTVA) stock increased by 3.4% over the past month. As most would know, long-term fundamentals have a strong correlation with market price movements, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. Specifically, we decided to study Corteva'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.

Check out our latest analysis for Corteva

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 Corteva is:

2.8% = US$710m ÷ US$25b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.03 in profit.

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. 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. 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 Corteva's Earnings Growth And 2.8% ROE

It is hard to argue that Corteva's ROE is much good in and of itself. Even when compared to the industry average of 10%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. In spite of this, Corteva was able to grow its net income considerably, at a rate of 61% in the last five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

As a next step, we compared Corteva'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 14%.

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

Is Corteva Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Corteva's three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 35%, meaning the company retains 65% of its income. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Corteva is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.

Besides, Corteva has been paying dividends over a period of five years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 22% over the next three years. Accordingly, the expected drop in the payout ratio explains the expected increase in the company's ROE to 10%, over the same period.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Corteva certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. 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