Is Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.'s (NYSE:MLM) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Martin Marietta Materials' (NYSE:MLM) stock is up by a considerable 16% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Martin Marietta Materials' 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.

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How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Martin Marietta Materials is:

12% = US$1.1b ÷ US$9.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.12.

Check out our latest analysis for Martin Marietta Materials

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. 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. 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.

Martin Marietta Materials' Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

At first glance, Martin Marietta Materials seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 14%. This probably goes some way in explaining Martin Marietta Materials' significant 25% net income growth over the past five years amongst other factors. However, there could also be other drivers behind this growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Martin Marietta Materials' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 19% in the same period, which is great to see.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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. What is MLM worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether MLM is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Martin Marietta Materials Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Martin Marietta Materials has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 17%, meaning that it has the remaining 83% left over to reinvest into its business. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

Additionally, Martin Marietta Materials has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 14%. As a result, Martin Marietta Materials' ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 12% for future ROE.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Martin Marietta Materials' performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive 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 company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.