In This Article:
Most readers would already be aware that Travis Perkins' (LON:TPK) stock increased significantly by 20% over the past three months. 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 Travis Perkins' ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
See our latest analysis for Travis Perkins
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Travis Perkins is:
1.9% = UK£38m ÷ UK£2.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each £1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made £0.02 in profit.
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. 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 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Travis Perkins' Earnings Growth And 1.9% ROE
It is quite clear that Travis Perkins' ROE is rather low. Even when compared to the industry average of 14%, the ROE figure is pretty disappointing. Despite this, surprisingly, Travis Perkins saw an exceptional 30% net income growth over the past five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons behind this 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.
As a next step, we compared Travis Perkins' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 17%.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is TPK fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.