Hartford Financial Services Group's (NYSE:HIG) stock is up by a considerable 15% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company's long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company's key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Hartford Financial Services Group's 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?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Hartford Financial Services Group is:

16% = US$2.5b ÷ US$15b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

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 $0.16 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. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Hartford Financial Services Group's Earnings Growth And 16% ROE

At first glance, Hartford Financial Services Group seems to have a decent ROE. Especially when compared to the industry average of 13% the company's ROE looks pretty impressive. Probably as a result of this, Hartford Financial Services Group was able to see a decent growth of 6.6% over the last five years.

As a next step, we compared Hartford Financial Services Group'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 8.1% in the same period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Hartford Financial Services Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Hartford Financial Services Group Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Hartford Financial Services Group has a low three-year median payout ratio of 24%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 76% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

Besides, Hartford Financial Services Group 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 16% over the next three years. Despite the lower expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Hartford Financial Services Group's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. 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.