Could The Market Be Wrong About Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) Given Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) has had a rough three months with its share price down 7.5%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Landstar System'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 Landstar System

How To 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 Landstar System is:

23% = US$233m ÷ US$1.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

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 $0.23.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

Landstar System's Earnings Growth And 23% ROE

First thing first, we like that Landstar System has an impressive ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE is quite impressive. This probably laid the groundwork for Landstar System's moderate 9.9% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared Landstar System's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 19% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

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. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Landstar System's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Landstar System Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Landstar System has a low three-year median payout ratio of 10%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 90% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

Additionally, Landstar System has paid dividends over a period of nine years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 15% over the next three years. Despite the higher expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Landstar System's performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see a good amount of growth in its earnings. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. 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.