In This Article:
PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 22% over the last three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on PulteGroup's 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.
View our latest analysis for PulteGroup
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 PulteGroup is:
29% = US$2.4b ÷ US$8.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.29 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. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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 PulteGroup's Earnings Growth And 29% ROE
First thing first, we like that PulteGroup has an impressive ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 23% the company's ROE is quite impressive. So, the substantial 28% net income growth seen by PulteGroup over the past five years isn't overly surprising.
We then performed a comparison between PulteGroup's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 30% in the same period.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for PHM? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.