Are Robust Financials Driving The Recent Rally In WiseTech Global Limited's (ASX:WTC) Stock?

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Simply Wall St

Tue, Aug 4, 2020, 8:33 PM 4 min read

Most readers would already be aware that WiseTech Global's (ASX:WTC) stock increased significantly by 13% 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. Specifically, we decided to study WiseTech Global's ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

View our latest analysis for WiseTech Global

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for WiseTech Global is:

11% = AU$91m ÷ AU$830m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every A$1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of A$0.11.

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 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.

WiseTech Global's Earnings Growth And 11% ROE

At first glance, WiseTech Global seems to have a decent ROE. Even so, when compared with the average industry ROE of 14%, we aren't very excited. However, we are pleased to see the impressive 50% net income growth reported by WiseTech Global over the past five years. We believe that there might be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio. Bear in mind, the company does have a respectable ROE. It is just that the industry ROE is higher. So this also does lend some color to the high earnings growth seen by the company.

As a next step, we compared WiseTech Global's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 14%.

past-earnings-growth — ASX:WTC Past Earnings Growth August 5th 2020

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. 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 WiseTech Global's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is WiseTech Global Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

WiseTech Global's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 20%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 80% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

Besides, WiseTech Global has been paying dividends over a period of three years. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 20%. Still, forecasts suggest that WiseTech Global's future ROE will rise to 15% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with WiseTech Global's performance. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business at a moderate rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. 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 latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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