Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (NYSE:HPE) stock is up by a considerable 7.0% over the past week. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Specifically, we decided to study Hewlett Packard Enterprise's ROE in this article.

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. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

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 Hewlett Packard Enterprise is:

8.4% = US$1.9b ÷ US$22b (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.08 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.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Earnings Growth And 8.4% ROE

When you first look at it, Hewlett Packard Enterprise's ROE doesn't look that attractive. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 12% either. Despite this, surprisingly, Hewlett Packard Enterprise saw an exceptional 25% net income growth over the past five years. Therefore, there could be other reasons behind this growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

We then compared Hewlett Packard Enterprise's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 38% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It's important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Hewlett Packard Enterprise's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Hewlett Packard Enterprise Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a three-year median payout ratio of 36% (where it is retaining 64% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that Hewlett Packard Enterprise is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Moreover, Hewlett Packard Enterprise is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of nine years of paying a dividend. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 29% of its profits over the next three years. However, Hewlett Packard Enterprise's ROE is predicted to rise to 11% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio.

Conclusion

Overall, we feel that Hewlett Packard Enterprise certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Specifically, its fairly high earnings growth number, which no doubt was backed by the company's high earnings retention. Still, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping a lot of benefit to the investors. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.