Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) has had a rough month with its share price down 6.2%. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Vulcan Materials' ROE today.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
Check out our latest analysis for Vulcan Materials
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 Vulcan Materials is:
11% = US$632m ÷ US$5.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.11 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. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Vulcan Materials' Earnings Growth And 11% ROE
To begin with, Vulcan Materials seems to have a respectable ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 11% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This probably goes some way in explaining Vulcan Materials' moderate 17% growth over the past five years amongst other factors.
As a next step, we compared Vulcan Materials' 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 13%.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is VMC fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.
Is Vulcan Materials Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Vulcan Materials has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 27% (or a retention ratio of 73%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.
Additionally, Vulcan Materials has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 26% of its profits over the next three years. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that Vulcan Materials' future ROE will be 12% which is again, similar to the current ROE.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that Vulcan Materials' performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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