Yahoo Finance Declining Stock and Decent Financials: Is The Market Wrong About Exco Technologies Limited (TSE:XTC)?
It is hard to get excited after looking at Exco Technologies' (TSE:XTC) recent performance, when its stock has declined 4.7% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Exco Technologies' ROE today.
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.
Check out our latest analysis for Exco Technologies
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Exco Technologies is:
12% = CA$42m ÷ CA$338m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
The 'return' is the yearly profit. Another way to think of that is that for every CA$1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn CA$0.12 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?
Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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 Exco Technologies' Earnings Growth And 12% ROE
To start with, Exco Technologies' ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 13%. As you might expect, the 11% net income decline reported by Exco Technologies is a bit of a surprise. So, there might be some other aspects that could explain this. For example, it could be that the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.
From the 11% decline reported by the industry in the same period, we infer that Exco Technologies and its industry are both shrinking at a similar rate.
The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is Exco Technologies fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Exco Technologies Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Despite having a normal three-year median payout ratio of 46% (where it is retaining 54% of its profits), Exco Technologies has seen a decline in earnings as we saw above. It looks like there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.
Additionally, Exco Technologies has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company's management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth.
Conclusion
On the whole, we do feel that Exco Technologies has some positive attributes. Although, we are disappointed to see a lack of growth in earnings even in spite of a high ROE and and a high reinvestment rate. We believe that there might be some outside factors that could be having a negative impact on the business. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. You can see the 1 risk we have identified for Exco Technologies by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.
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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