It is hard to get excited after looking at Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ (TSE:BDGI) recent performance, when its stock has declined 6.5% over the past three months. However, the company’s fundamentals look pretty decent, and long-term financials are usually aligned with future market price movements. Specifically, we decided to study Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ ROE in this article.
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.
Check out our latest analysis for Badger Infrastructure Solutions
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
The formula for return on equity is:
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Badger Infrastructure Solutions is:
17% = US$41m ÷ US$242m (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).
The ‘return’ is the yearly profit. That means that for every CA$1 worth of shareholders’ equity, the company generated CA$0.17 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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.
Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ Earnings Growth And 17% ROE
To start with, Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 16%. As you might expect, the 13% net income decline reported by Badger Infrastructure Solutions is a bit of a surprise. Based on this, we feel that there might be other reasons which haven’t been discussed so far in this article that could be hampering the company’s growth. For example, it could be that the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.
That being said, we compared Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ performance with the industry and were concerned when we found that while the company has shrunk its earnings, the industry has grown its earnings at a rate of 13% in the same 5-year period.
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. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Badger Infrastructure Solutions is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.
Is Badger Infrastructure Solutions Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Badger Infrastructure Solutions’ declining earnings is not surprising given how the company is spending most of its profits in paying dividends, judging by its three-year median payout ratio of 51% (or a retention ratio of 49%). With only a little being reinvested into the business, earnings growth would obviously be low or non-existent.
Moreover, Badger Infrastructure Solutions has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more suggesting that management must have perceived that the shareholders prefer dividends over earnings growth.
Conclusion
Overall, we feel that Badger Infrastructure Solutions certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Yet, the low earnings growth is a bit concerning, especially given that the company has a high rate of return. Investors could have benefitted from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. As discussed earlier, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. With that said, we studied the latest analyst forecasts and found that while the company has shrunk its earnings in the past, analysts expect its earnings to grow in the future. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts 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.