It is hard to get excited after looking at Mehow Innovative's (SZSE:301363) recent performance, when its stock has declined 20% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company's financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. In this article, we decided to focus on Mehow Innovative's ROE.

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 To 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 Mehow Innovative is:

12% = CN¥375m ÷ CN¥3.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.12 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of Mehow Innovative's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

At first glance, Mehow Innovative seems to have a decent ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 9.4% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This probably laid the ground for Mehow Innovative's moderate 19% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then performed a comparison between Mehow Innovative's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 16% in the same 5-year period.

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

Is Mehow Innovative Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Mehow Innovative has a three-year median payout ratio of 30%, which implies that it retains the remaining 70% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

While Mehow Innovative 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.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Mehow Innovative'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. 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.