Hongrun Construction Group's (SZSE:002062) stock is up by a considerable 12% over the past week. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study Hongrun Construction Group's ROE in this article.
Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
See our latest analysis for Hongrun Construction Group
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 Hongrun Construction Group is:
9.3% = CN¥434m ÷ CN¥4.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.09.
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.
When you first look at it, Hongrun Construction Group's ROE doesn't look that attractive. However, the fact that the its ROE is quite higher to the industry average of 6.8% doesn't go unnoticed by us. Still, Hongrun Construction Group has seen a flat net income growth over the past five years. Bear in mind, the company does have a slightly low ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is lower. Therefore, the low to flat growth in earnings could also be the result of this.
As a next step, we compared Hongrun Construction Group'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 7.0% in the same period.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. If you're wondering about Hongrun Construction Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Despite having a normal three-year median payout ratio of 30% (implying that the company keeps 70% of its income) over the last three years, Hongrun Construction Group has seen a negligible amount of growth in earnings as we saw above. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.
Moreover, Hongrun Construction Group has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth.
Overall, we feel that Hongrun Construction Group certainly does have some positive factors to consider. However, while the company does have a decent ROE and a high profit retention, its earnings growth number is quite disappointing. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering growth. So far, we've only made a quick discussion around the company's earnings growth. You can do your own research on Hongrun Construction Group and see how it has performed in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.