AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 7.7% over the last week. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to AptarGroup's ROE today.
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.
How To Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for AptarGroup is:
15% = US$374m ÷ US$2.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).
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 $0.15 in profit.
View our latest analysis for AptarGroup
What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of AptarGroup's Earnings Growth And 15% ROE
To start with, AptarGroup's ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 14%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 9.0% seen over the past five years by AptarGroup.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that AptarGroup's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 3.4% 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. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is ATR fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.
Is AptarGroup Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
AptarGroup has a healthy combination of a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 40% (or a retention ratio of 60%) and a respectable amount of growth in earnings as we saw above, meaning that the company has been making efficient use of its profits.
Additionally, AptarGroup 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. Existing analyst estimates suggest that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 31% over the next three years. However, the company's ROE is not expected to change by much despite the lower expected payout ratio.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that AptarGroup's performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. 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.