Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd (SZSE:002779) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 45% over the last three months. As most would know, fundamentals are what usually guide market price movements over the long-term, so we decided to look at the company's key financial indicators today to determine if they have any role to play in the recent price movement. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd's ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd is:

6.7% = CN¥47m ÷ CN¥699m (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 CN¥1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CN¥0.07 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd's Earnings Growth And 6.7% ROE

At first glance, Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd'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 11%. Despite this, surprisingly, Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd saw an exceptional 41% net income growth over the past five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons behind this 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.

As a next step, we compared Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd'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 8.2%.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. 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. If you're wondering about Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd's ' three-year median payout ratio is on the lower side at 12% implying that it is retaining a higher percentage (88%) of its profits. So it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business and this reflects in its earnings growth number.

Moreover, Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of eight years of paying a dividend.

Summary

On the whole, we do feel that Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd has some positive attributes. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. Our risks dashboard will have the 1 risk we have identified for Zhejiang Zhongjian TechnologyLtd.

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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.