Most readers would already be aware that Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial's (SZSE:002444) stock increased significantly by 19% over the past three months. 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. In this article, we decided to focus on Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial's ROE.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE 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 Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial is:

11% = CN¥1.7b ÷ CN¥15b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CN¥1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CN¥0.11 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

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

Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

To begin with, Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial seems to have a respectable ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 10%. This certainly adds some context to Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial's moderate 15% net income growth seen over the past five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 7.8% in the same period, which is great to see.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. 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 Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

In Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial's case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 16% (or a retention ratio of 84%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Additionally, Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Hangzhou Greatstar Industrial'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. On studying current analyst estimates, we found that analysts expect the company to continue its recent growth streak. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.