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Legacy Housing (NASDAQ:LEGH) has had a rough three months with its share price down 11%. But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Legacy Housing's ROE today.
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.
Check out our latest analysis for Legacy Housing
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Legacy Housing is:
11% = US$54m ÷ US$479m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.11 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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 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.
Legacy Housing's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE
To start with, Legacy Housing's ROE looks acceptable. Be that as it may, the company's ROE is still quite lower than the industry average of 16%. However, the moderate 15% net income growth seen by Legacy Housing over the past five years is definitely a positive. So, there might be other aspects that are positively influencing earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place. Bear in mind, the company does have a respectable level of ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is higher. So this also provides some context to the earnings growth seen by the company.
As a next step, we compared Legacy Housing's net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 19% 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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Has the market priced in the future outlook for LEGH? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.