Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's (SZSE:002332) stock is up by 9.5% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company's long-term financial health, we decided to study the company's fundamentals to see if they could be influencing the market. Specifically, we decided to study Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

Check out our latest analysis for Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd is:

12% = CN¥687m ÷ CN¥5.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

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¥0.12.

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 everything else remains unchanged, the higher the ROE and profit retention, the higher the growth rate of a company compared to companies that don't necessarily bear these characteristics.

A Side By Side comparison of Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's Earnings Growth And 12% ROE

To start with, Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 8.5%. This probably laid the ground for Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's moderate 19% net income growth seen over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 11%.

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

In Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 25% (or a retention ratio of 75%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Besides, Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd 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 28%. As a result, Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd's ROE is not expected to change by much either, which we inferred from the analyst estimate of 13% for future ROE.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Zhejiang Xianju PharmaceuticalLtd'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 latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.