With its stock down 20% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT). However, stock prices are usually driven by a company's financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Specifically, we decided to study PriceSmart's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for PriceSmart

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 PriceSmart is:

9.9% = US$109m ÷ US$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to August 2023).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.10 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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.

PriceSmart's Earnings Growth And 9.9% ROE

On the face of it, PriceSmart's ROE is not much to talk about. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 16% either. PriceSmart was still able to see a decent net income growth of 10% over the past five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. 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 PriceSmart'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 12% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if PriceSmart is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is PriceSmart Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

In PriceSmart's case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 24% (or a retention ratio of 76%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Besides, PriceSmart has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Conclusion

On the whole, we do feel that PriceSmart 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.

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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.