With its stock down 7.5% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas (SHSE:603393). 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 Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas is:

18% = CN¥1.4b ÷ CN¥7.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.18 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.

Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' Earnings Growth And 18% ROE

To begin with, Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas seems to have a respectable ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 9.3% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. This certainly adds some context to Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' exceptional 22% net income growth seen over the past five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

We then compared Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 5.6% in the same 5-year 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. Is 603393 fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas has a three-year median payout ratio of 28% (where it is retaining 72% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Additionally, Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas has paid dividends over a period of seven years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Xinjiang Xintai Natural Gas' performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.