Yahoo Finance Grocery Outlet Holding Corp.'s (NASDAQ:GO) Stock Has Shown Weakness Lately But Financial Prospects Look Decent: Is The Market Wrong?
Grocery Outlet Holding (NASDAQ:GO) has had a rough three months with its share price down 3.4%. But if you pay close attention, you might find that its key financial indicators look quite decent, which could mean that the stock could potentially rise in the long-term given how markets usually reward more resilient long-term fundamentals. In this article, we decided to focus on Grocery Outlet Holding's ROE.
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
Check out our latest analysis for Grocery Outlet Holding
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 Grocery Outlet Holding is:
6.5% = US$79m ÷ US$1.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.07 in profit.
What Has ROE Got To Do With 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. 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.
Grocery Outlet Holding's Earnings Growth And 6.5% ROE
On the face of it, Grocery Outlet Holding's ROE is not much to talk about. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 17%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. In spite of this, Grocery Outlet Holding was able to grow its net income considerably, at a rate of 22% in the last five years. We reckon that there could be other factors at play here. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Grocery Outlet Holding's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 14% in the same period, which is great to see.
Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Grocery Outlet Holding's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Grocery Outlet Holding Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Grocery Outlet Holding doesn't pay any regular dividends to its shareholders, meaning that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This is likely what's driving the high earnings growth number discussed above.
Conclusion
On the whole, we do feel that Grocery Outlet Holding has some positive attributes. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings growth. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. 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.
