Is Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ULH) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Universal Logistics Holdings (NASDAQ:ULH) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 6.5% over the last week. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Specifically, we decided to study Universal Logistics Holdings' 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.

View our latest analysis for Universal Logistics Holdings

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Universal Logistics Holdings is:

21% = US$131m ÷ US$631m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.21 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. Assuming everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Universal Logistics Holdings' Earnings Growth And 21% ROE

To begin with, Universal Logistics Holdings seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 15%. Probably as a result of this, Universal Logistics Holdings was able to see an impressive net income growth of 27% over the last five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. 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.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Universal Logistics Holdings' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 9.0% in the same period, which is great to see.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Universal Logistics Holdings fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Universal Logistics Holdings Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Universal Logistics Holdings has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 9.2%, meaning that it has the remaining 91% 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.

Moreover, Universal Logistics Holdings is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Universal Logistics Holdings' 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 substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.