Taking A Look At Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc.'s (NYSE:AHH) ROE

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One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE:AHH).

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

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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 Armada Hoffler Properties is:

4.8% = US$42m ÷ US$890m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.05 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Armada Hoffler Properties

Does Armada Hoffler Properties Have A Good Return On Equity?

By comparing a company's ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see Armada Hoffler Properties has a similar ROE to the average in the REITs industry classification (5.4%).

roe
NYSE:AHH Return on Equity April 8th 2025

That's neither particularly good, nor bad. Even if the ROE is respectable when compared to the industry, its worth checking if the firm's ROE is being aided by high debt levels. If so, this increases its exposure to financial risk. Our risks dashboard should have the 4 risks we have identified for Armada Hoffler Properties.

Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE

Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won't affect the total equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

Armada Hoffler Properties' Debt And Its 4.8% ROE

It's worth noting the high use of debt by Armada Hoffler Properties, leading to its debt to equity ratio of 1.45. The combination of a rather low ROE and significant use of debt is not particularly appealing. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.


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