Emclaire Financial Corp’s (NASDAQ:EMCF) most recent return on equity was a substandard 7.63% relative to its industry performance of 8.92% over the past year. Though EMCF’s recent performance is underwhelming, it is useful to understand what ROE is made up of and how it should be interpreted. Knowing these components can change your views on EMCF’s below-average returns. Metrics such as financial leverage can impact the level of ROE which in turn can affect the sustainability of EMCF’s returns. Let me show you what I mean by this. Check out our latest analysis for Emclaire Financial
Breaking down ROE — the mother of all ratios
Return on Equity (ROE) is a measure of EMCF’s profit relative to its shareholders’ equity. It essentially shows how much EMCF can generate in earnings given the amount of equity it has raised. In most cases, a higher ROE is preferred; however, there are many other factors we must consider prior to making any investment decisions.
Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders Equity
ROE is assessed against cost of equity, which is measured using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) – but let’s not dive into the details of that today. For now, let’s just look at the cost of equity number for EMCF, which is 11.27%. Given a discrepancy of -3.64% between return and cost, this indicated that EMCF may be paying more for its capital than what it’s generating in return. ROE can be dissected into three distinct ratios: net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage. This is called the Dupont Formula:
Dupont Formula
ROE = profit margin × asset turnover × financial leverage
ROE = (annual net profit ÷ sales) × (sales ÷ assets) × (assets ÷ shareholders’ equity)
ROE = annual net profit ÷ shareholders’ equity
Essentially, profit margin shows how much money the company makes after paying for all its expenses. The other component, asset turnover, illustrates how much revenue EMCF can make from its asset base. The most interesting ratio, and reflective of sustainability of its ROE, is financial leverage. Since financial leverage can artificially inflate ROE, we need to look at how much debt EMCF currently has. Currently the debt-to-equity ratio stands at a reasonable 73.26%, which means its ROE is driven by its ability to grow its profit without a significant debt burden.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? EMCF exhibits a weak ROE against its peers, as well as insufficient levels to cover its own cost of equity this year. However, investors shouldn’t despair since ROE is not inflated by excessive debt, which means EMCF still has room to improve shareholder returns by raising debt to fund new investments. If you’re looking for new ideas for high-returning stocks, you should take a look at our free platform to see the list of stocks with Return on Equity over 20%.