With its stock down 11% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Grocery Outlet Holding (NASDAQ:GO). However, the company’s fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. In this article, we decided to focus on Grocery Outlet Holding’s ROE.
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.
See our latest analysis for Grocery Outlet Holding
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 Grocery Outlet Holding is:
6.8% = US$81m ÷ US$1.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).
The ‘return’ refers to a company’s earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.07 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. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or “retain”, we are then able to evaluate a company’s future ability to generate profits. 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.
Grocery Outlet Holding’s Earnings Growth And 6.8% ROE
At first glance, Grocery Outlet Holding’s ROE doesn’t look very promising. We then compared the company’s ROE to the broader industry and were disappointed to see that the ROE is lower than the industry average of 14%. Despite this, surprisingly, Grocery Outlet Holding saw an exceptional 24% net income growth over the past five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
As a next step, we compared Grocery Outlet Holding’s 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 11%.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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 Grocery Outlet Holding fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Grocery Outlet Holding Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Grocery Outlet Holding doesn’t pay any dividend to its shareholders, meaning that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This is likely what’s driving the high earnings growth number discussed above.
Conclusion
In total, it does look like Grocery Outlet Holding has some positive aspects to its business. Even in spite of the low rate of return, the company has posted impressive earnings growth as a result of reinvesting heavily into its business. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. 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.
Valuation is complex, but we’re helping make it simple.
Find out whether Grocery Outlet Holding is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.
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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.
