Most readers would already know that Hangzhou EZVIZ Network's (SHSE:688475) stock increased by 7.0% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company's long-term financial health, we decided to study the company's fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Hangzhou EZVIZ Network'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?

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 Hangzhou EZVIZ Network is:

11% = CN¥563m ÷ CN¥5.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. That means that for every CN¥1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated CN¥0.11 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. 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 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.

Hangzhou EZVIZ Network's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

At first glance, Hangzhou EZVIZ Network seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 6.6% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This certainly adds some context to Hangzhou EZVIZ Network's decent 18% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared Hangzhou EZVIZ Network's 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 9.9% in the same 5-year period.

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. Is Hangzhou EZVIZ Network fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Hangzhou EZVIZ Network Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Hangzhou EZVIZ Network has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 38% (or a retention ratio of 62%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

While Hangzhou EZVIZ Network has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 40% of its profits over the next three years. Still, forecasts suggest that Hangzhou EZVIZ Network's future ROE will rise to 14% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Hangzhou EZVIZ Network'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.