In This Article:
Energy Recovery (NASDAQ:ERII) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 10% over the last month. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Energy Recovery's ROE.
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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
See our latest analysis for Energy Recovery
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Energy Recovery is:
11% = US$23m ÷ US$210m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.11.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 Energy Recovery's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE
To begin with, Energy Recovery seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 13%. Given the circumstances, we can't help but wonder why Energy Recovery saw little to no growth in the past five years. Based on this, we feel that there might be other reasons which haven't been discussed so far in this article that could be hampering the company's growth. For example, it could be that the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.
We then compared Energy Recovery's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 17% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.
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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Energy Recovery's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.