It is hard to get excited after looking at Autoliv's (NYSE:ALV) recent performance, when its stock has declined 6.1% over the past week. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company's financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Autoliv'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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Autoliv is:
22% = US$541m ÷ US$2.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).
The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.22 in profit.
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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.
Autoliv's Earnings Growth And 22% ROE
To start with, Autoliv's ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 12% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Autoliv was able to see a decent growth of 12% over the last five years.
As a next step, we compared Autoliv's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 14% in the same period.
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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Has the market priced in the future outlook for ALV? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Autoliv Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
While Autoliv has a three-year median payout ratio of 53% (which means it retains 47% of profits), the company has still seen a fair bit of earnings growth in the past, meaning that its high payout ratio hasn't hampered its ability to grow.
Additionally, Autoliv 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's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 25% over the next three years. As a result, the expected drop in Autoliv's payout ratio explains the anticipated rise in the company's future ROE to 33%, over the same period.
Summary
Overall, we are quite pleased with Autoliv's performance. In particular, its high ROE is quite noteworthy and also the probable explanation behind its considerable earnings growth. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.