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Ovintiv Inc.'s (TSE:OVV) Stock Has Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Strong: Is The Market Wrong?

Ovintiv (TSE:OVV) has had a rough three months with its share price down 27%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. In this article, we decided to focus on Ovintiv's ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Ovintiv

How Is ROE Calculated?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

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So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Ovintiv is:

47% = US$3.6b ÷ US$7.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

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$0.47 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

Ovintiv's Earnings Growth And 47% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Ovintiv has a significantly high ROE. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 22% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. This likely paved the way for the modest 6.1% net income growth seen by Ovintiv over the past five years. growth

We then compared Ovintiv's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 35% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is OVV fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Ovintiv Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Ovintiv has a low three-year median payout ratio of 5.8%, meaning that the company retains the remaining 94% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business.

Additionally, Ovintiv has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 10% over the next three years. Therefore, the expected rise in the payout ratio explains why the company's ROE is expected to decline to 19% over the same period.

Conclusion

Overall, we are quite pleased with Ovintiv's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a respectable growth in its earnings. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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