Mader Group Limited's (ASX:MAD) Stock Is Going Strong: Is the Market Following Fundamentals?

Most readers would already be aware that Mader Group's (ASX:MAD) stock increased significantly by 25% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Mader Group's 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.

View our latest analysis for Mader Group

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Mader Group is:

36% = AU$15m ÷ AU$42m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.36 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

Mader Group's Earnings Growth And 36% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Mader Group has a significantly high ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 9.0% the company's ROE is quite impressive. So, the substantial 32% net income growth seen by Mader Group over the past five years isn't overly surprising.

We then compared Mader Group's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 23% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. If you're wondering about Mader Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Mader Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Mader Group has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 14%, meaning that it has the remaining 86% left over to reinvest into its business. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

Looking at the current analyst consensus data, we can see that the company's future payout ratio is expected to rise to 36% over the next three years. Regardless, the ROE is not expected to change much for the company despite the higher expected payout ratio.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Mader Group's performance has been quite good. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. 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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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