Yahoo Finance Clarus Corporation (NASDAQ:CLAR) Stock's Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Decent: Will The Market Correct The Share Price In The Future?
With its stock down 35% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Clarus (NASDAQ:CLAR). However, the company's fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Clarus' ROE today.
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.
See our latest analysis for Clarus
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
Return on equity 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 Clarus is:
7.1% = US$26m ÷ US$363m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.07 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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.
Clarus' Earnings Growth And 7.1% ROE
When you first look at it, Clarus' ROE doesn't look that attractive. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 29%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. In spite of this, Clarus was able to grow its net income considerably, at a rate of 40% in the last 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.
We then performed a comparison between Clarus' net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 34% 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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. If you're wondering about Clarus''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Clarus Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?
Clarus' ' three-year median payout ratio is on the lower side at 15% implying that it is retaining a higher percentage (85%) of its profits. So it looks like Clarus is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business, which shows in its earnings growth.
Additionally, Clarus has paid dividends over a period of four years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 6.8% over the next three years. Despite the lower expected payout ratio, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much.
Summary
In total, it does look like Clarus has some positive aspects to its business. With a high rate of reinvestment, albeit at a low ROE, the company has managed to see a considerable growth in its earnings. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.
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