With its stock down 14% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Mach Natural Resources (NYSE:MNR). It seems that the market might have completely ignored the positive aspects of the company's fundamentals and decided to weigh-in more on the negative aspects. Long-term fundamentals are usually what drive market outcomes, so it's worth paying close attention. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Mach Natural Resources' 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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.
How Is ROE Calculated?
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 Mach Natural Resources is:
12% = US$159m ÷ US$1.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.12 in profit.
View our latest analysis for Mach Natural Resources
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. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.
Mach Natural Resources' Earnings Growth And 12% ROE
To begin with, Mach Natural Resources seems to have a respectable ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 13% the company's ROE looks quite decent. As you might expect, the 47% net income decline reported by Mach Natural Resources 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.
However, when we compared Mach Natural Resources' growth with the industry we found that while the company's earnings have been shrinking, the industry has seen an earnings growth of 37% in the same period. This is quite worrisome.
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. If you're wondering about Mach Natural Resources''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.
Is Mach Natural Resources Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
With a three-year median payout ratio as high as 138%,Mach Natural Resources' shrinking earnings don't come as a surprise as the company is paying a dividend which is beyond its means. Paying a dividend beyond their means is usually not viable over the long term. Our risks dashboard should have the 2 risks we have identified for Mach Natural Resources.
Only recently, Mach Natural Resources stated paying a dividend. This likely means that the management might have concluded that its shareholders have a strong preference for dividends.
Conclusion
On the whole, we feel that the performance shown by Mach Natural Resources can be open to many interpretations. While the company does have a high rate of return, its low earnings retention is probably what's hampering its earnings growth. That being so, the latest industry analyst forecasts show that the analysts are expecting to see a huge improvement in the company's earnings growth rate. 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.
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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.