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Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSE:CMMC) Delivered A Better ROE Than The Industry, Here’s Why

This article is intended for those of you who are at the beginning of your investing journey and want to learn about Return on Equity using a real-life example.

With an ROE of 20.72%, Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSE:CMMC) outpaced its own industry which delivered a less exciting 10.73% over the past year. On the surface, this looks fantastic since we know that CMMC has made large profits from little equity capital; however, ROE doesn’t tell us if management have borrowed heavily to make this happen. In this article, we’ll closely examine some factors like financial leverage to evaluate the sustainability of CMMC’s ROE.

Check out our latest analysis for Copper Mountain Mining

Breaking down Return on Equity

Firstly, Return on Equity, or ROE, is simply the percentage of last years’ earning against the book value of shareholders’ equity. It essentially shows how much the company can generate in earnings given the amount of equity it has raised. Generally speaking, a higher ROE is preferred; however, there are other factors we must also consider before making any conclusions.

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Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders Equity

ROE is measured against cost of equity in order to determine the efficiency of Copper Mountain Mining’s equity capital deployed. Its cost of equity is 17.66%. This means Copper Mountain Mining returns enough to cover its own cost of equity, with a buffer of 3.06%. This sustainable practice implies that the company pays less for its capital than what it generates in return. ROE can be broken down into three different ratios: net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage. This is called the Dupont Formula:

Dupont Formula

ROE = profit margin × asset turnover × financial leverage

ROE = (annual net profit ÷ sales) × (sales ÷ assets) × (assets ÷ shareholders’ equity)

ROE = annual net profit ÷ shareholders’ equity

TSX:CMMC Last Perf August 7th 18
TSX:CMMC Last Perf August 7th 18

Essentially, profit margin shows how much money the company makes after paying for all its expenses. Asset turnover reveals how much revenue can be generated from Copper Mountain Mining’s asset base. Finally, financial leverage will be our main focus today. It shows how much of assets are funded by equity and can show how sustainable the company’s capital structure is. Since financial leverage can artificially inflate ROE, we need to look at how much debt Copper Mountain Mining currently has. Currently the debt-to-equity ratio stands at a balanced 138.04%, which means its above-average ROE is driven by its ability to grow its profit without a significant debt burden.

TSX:CMMC Historical Debt August 7th 18
TSX:CMMC Historical Debt August 7th 18

Next Steps:

ROE is one of many ratios which meaningfully dissects financial statements, which illustrates the quality of a company. Copper Mountain Mining exhibits a strong ROE against its peers, as well as sufficient returns to cover its cost of equity. ROE is not likely to be inflated by excessive debt funding, giving shareholders more conviction in the sustainability of high returns. ROE is a helpful signal, but it is definitely not sufficient on its own to make an investment decision.

For Copper Mountain Mining, I’ve compiled three pertinent factors you should look at:

  1. Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.

  2. Valuation: What is Copper Mountain Mining worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Copper Mountain Mining is currently mispriced by the market.

  3. Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of Copper Mountain Mining? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large growth potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.