China Automotive Engineering Research Institute (SHSE:601965) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 5.9% over the last month. 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. Specifically, we decided to study China Automotive Engineering Research Institute'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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

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 China Automotive Engineering Research Institute is:

13% = CN¥882m ÷ CN¥7.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every CN¥1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of CN¥0.13.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of China Automotive Engineering Research Institute's Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

To start with, China Automotive Engineering Research Institute's ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 5.4% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This certainly adds some context to China Automotive Engineering Research Institute's decent 14% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared China Automotive Engineering Research Institute'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). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is 601965 fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

China Automotive Engineering Research Institute has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 41% (or a retention ratio of 59%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.

Besides, China Automotive Engineering Research Institute has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 33%. Still, forecasts suggest that China Automotive Engineering Research Institute's future ROE will rise to 16% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with China Automotive Engineering Research Institute's 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. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. 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.