While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Chegg, Inc. (NYSE:CHGG).
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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
View our latest analysis for Chegg
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 Chegg is:
5.4% = US$44m ÷ US$819m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.05.
Does Chegg Have A Good ROE?
One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see Chegg has a lower ROE than the average (12%) in the Consumer Services industry classification.
NYSE:CHGG Return on Equity September 29th 2022
That's not what we like to see. That being said, a low ROE is not always a bad thing, especially if the company has low leverage as this still leaves room for improvement if the company were to take on more debt. When a company has low ROE but high debt levels, we would be cautious as the risk involved is too high.
How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?
Most companies need money -- from somewhere -- to grow their profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking.
Chegg's Debt And Its 5.4% ROE
It's worth noting the high use of debt by Chegg, leading to its debt to equity ratio of 2.05. With a fairly low ROE, and significant use of debt, it's hard to get excited about this business at the moment. Debt does bring extra risk, so it's only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.
Summary
Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In our books, the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.
But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
Of course Chegg may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have high ROE and low debt.
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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.
虽然一些投资者已经非常精通财务指标(帽子提示),但本文面向的是那些想要了解股本回报率(ROE)及其重要性的人。为了使课程立足于实践,我们将使用净资产收益率来更好地理解Chegg,Inc.(纽约证券交易所代码:CHGG)。
股本回报率或净资产收益率是股东要考虑的一个重要因素,因为它告诉他们他们的资本再投资的效率。简而言之,它衡量的是一家公司相对于股东权益的盈利能力。
查看我们对Chegg的最新分析
你如何计算股本回报率?
这个股本回报率公式是:
股本回报率=(持续经营的)净利润?股东权益
因此,根据上面的公式,Chegg的ROE为:
5.4%=4400万美元×8.19亿美元(基于截至2022年6月的12个月)。
“回报”就是年度利润。因此,这意味着股东每投资1美元,公司就会产生0.05美元的利润。
切格的净资产收益率好吗?
确定一家公司是否拥有良好的股本回报率的一个简单方法是将其与所在行业的平均水平进行比较。然而,这种方法只是作为一种粗略的检查,因为在同一行业分类中,公司确实有很大的不同。如果你看下图,你可以看到Chegg的净资产收益率(ROE)低于消费者服务行业分类的平均水平(12%)。
纽约证券交易所:CHGG股本回报率2022年9月29日
这不是我们希望看到的。话虽如此,低ROE并不总是一件坏事,特别是如果公司的杠杆率较低,因为如果公司承担更多债务,这仍有改进的空间。当一家公司的净资产收益率低但债务水平高时,我们会谨慎行事,因为涉及的风险太高。
债务对股本回报率有何影响?
大多数公司都需要资金--从某个地方--来增加利润。这些现金可以来自留存收益、发行新股(股权)或债务。在前两种情况下,净资产收益率将抓住这种资本增长的用途。在后一种情况下,债务的使用将提高回报,但不会改变股权。因此,债务的使用可以提高净资产收益率,尽管打个比方说,在暴风雨天气的情况下会有额外的风险。
Chegg的债务及其5.4%的净资产收益率
值得注意的是,Chegg高度利用债务,导致其债务权益比率为2.05。由于净资产收益率(ROE)相当低,而且大量使用债务,目前很难对这项业务感到兴奋。债务确实会带来额外的风险,所以只有当一家公司从债务中获得一些可观的回报时,它才是真正值得的。
摘要
股本回报率在比较不同企业的质量时很有用。在我们的账目中,最高质量的公司拥有高股本回报率,尽管债务水平较低。如果两家公司的债务权益比大致相同,而其中一家公司的净资产收益率更高,我通常会更喜欢净资产收益率更高的那家公司。
但当一项业务是高质量的时,市场往往会将其抬高到反映这一点的价格。相对于当前价格反映的利润增长预期,也必须考虑利润可能增长的速度。因此,你可能想查看分析师对该公司预测的免费可视化。
当然了Chegg可能不是最值得买入的股票。所以你可能想看看这个免费其他拥有高ROE和低债务的公司的集合。
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本文由Simply Wall St.撰写,具有概括性。我们仅使用不偏不倚的方法提供基于历史数据和分析师预测的评论,我们的文章并不打算作为财务建议。它不构成买卖任何股票的建议,也没有考虑你的目标或你的财务状况。我们的目标是为您带来由基本面数据驱动的长期重点分析。请注意,我们的分析可能不会将最新的对价格敏感的公司公告或定性材料考虑在内。Simply Wall St.对上述任何一只股票都没有持仓。