GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GWPH) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 33% over the last three months. But the company's key financial indicators appear to be differing across the board and that makes us question whether or not the company's current share price momentum can be maintained. In this article, we decided to focus on GW Pharmaceuticals' ROE.
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
Check out our latest analysis for GW Pharmaceuticals
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 GW Pharmaceuticals is:
4.6% = US$33m ÷ US$715m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.05 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 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.
GW Pharmaceuticals' Earnings Growth And 4.6% ROE
On the face of it, GW Pharmaceuticals' ROE is not much to talk about. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 19% either. Given the circumstances, the significant decline in net income by 11% seen by GW Pharmaceuticals over the last five years is not surprising. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a very high payout ratio, or is faced with competitive pressures.
That being said, we compared GW Pharmaceuticals' performance with the industry and were concerned when we found that while the company has shrunk its earnings, the industry has grown its earnings at a rate of 13% in the same period.
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. If you're wondering about GW Pharmaceuticals''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.