ICL Group Ltd's (NYSE:ICL) Stock Is Going Strong: Have Financials A Role To Play?

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)

Tue, Nov 5, 2024, 5:27 AM 4 min read

Most readers would already be aware that ICL Group's (NYSE:ICL) stock increased significantly by 14% over the past three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study ICL Group's ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for ICL Group

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 ICL Group is:

8.1% = US$482m ÷ US$6.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.08.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. 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 ICL Group's Earnings Growth And 8.1% ROE

On the face of it, ICL Group's ROE is not much to talk about. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 9.8%. Particularly, the exceptional 25% net income growth seen by ICL Group over the past five years is pretty remarkable. Considering the moderately low ROE, it is quite possible that there might be some 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 ICL Group's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 11% in the same period, which is great to see.

past-earnings-growth — NYSE:ICL Past Earnings Growth November 5th 2024

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about ICL Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is ICL Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

ICL Group has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 54%, meaning the company only retains 46% of its income. This implies that the company has been able to achieve high earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Moreover, ICL Group 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. 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 46%. However, ICL Group's ROE is predicted to rise to 10% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that ICL Group has some positive attributes. That is, quite an impressive growth in earnings. However, the low profit retention means that the company's earnings growth could have been higher, had it been reinvesting a higher portion of its profits. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.