It is hard to get excited after looking at DCC’s (LON:DCC) recent performance, when its stock has declined 2.3% over the past month. 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. In this article, we decided to focus on DCC’s ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
See our latest analysis for DCC
How Is ROE Calculated?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for DCC is:
11% = UK£347m ÷ UK£3.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).
The ‘return’ is the income the business earned over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every £1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn £0.11 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
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. 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.
DCC’s Earnings Growth And 11% ROE
At first glance, DCC seems to have a decent ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 11% the company’s ROE looks quite decent. This certainly adds some context to DCC’s moderate 7.8% net income growth seen over the past five years.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that DCC’s reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 13% in the same period, which is not something we like to see.
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). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is DCC fairly valued? This infographic on the company’s intrinsic value has everything you need to know.
Is DCC Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
DCC has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 55%, meaning that it is left with only 45% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.
Besides, DCC has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Existing analyst estimates suggest that the company’s future payout ratio is expected to drop to 42% over the next three years. Regardless, the ROE is not expected to change much for the company despite the lower expected payout ratio.
Summary
Overall, we feel that DCC certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Its earnings have grown respectably as we saw earlier, which was likely due to the company reinvesting its earnings at a pretty high rate of return. However, given the high ROE, we do think that the company is reinvesting a small portion of its profits. This could likely be preventing the company from growing to its full extent. We also studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that the company’s earnings growth is expected be similar to its current growth rate. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company’s fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst’s forecasts page for the company.
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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.
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