It is hard to get excited after looking at Jin Medical International's (NASDAQ:ZJYL) recent performance, when its stock has declined 39% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Jin Medical International'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. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
The formula for ROE is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Jin Medical International is:
12% = US$3.4m ÷ US$29m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.12 in profit.
Check out our latest analysis for Jin Medical International
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. 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.
At first glance, Jin Medical International seems to have a decent ROE. Further, the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 12%. Jin Medical International's decent returns aren't reflected in Jin Medical International'smediocre five year net income growth average of 2.6%. We reckon that a low growth, when returns are moderate could be the result of certain circumstances like low earnings retention or poor allocation of capital.
Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Jin Medical International's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 13% over the last few years, which is not something we like 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. 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 Jin Medical International's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio , as compared to its industry.
Jin Medical International doesn't pay any regular dividends currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This doesn't explain the low earnings growth number that we discussed above. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.
Overall, we feel that Jin Medical International certainly does have some positive factors to consider. However, given the high ROE and high profit retention, we would expect the company to be delivering strong earnings growth, but that isn't the case here. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that's hampering its growth. While we won't completely dismiss the company, what we would do, is try to ascertain how risky the business is to make a more informed decision around the company. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for Jin Medical International by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.
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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.