With its stock down 8.1% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard Waters (NYSE:WAT). But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. In this article, we decided to focus on Waters' ROE.
Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.
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 Waters is:
33% = US$657m ÷ US$2.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.33.
View our latest analysis for Waters
Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?
So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Waters' Earnings Growth And 33% ROE
Firstly, we acknowledge that Waters has a significantly high ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 10% the company's ROE is quite impressive. However, for some reason, the higher returns aren't reflected in Waters' meagre five year net income growth average of 2.8%. That's a bit unexpected from a company which has such a high rate of return. A few likely reasons why this could happen is that the company could have a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.
Next, on comparing Waters' net income growth with the industry, we found that the company's reported growth is similar to the industry average growth rate of 3.3% over the last few years.
Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. 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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for WAT? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.
Is Waters Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?
Waters doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business. This doesn't explain the low earnings growth number that we discussed above. So there could be some other explanation in that regard. For instance, the company's business may be deteriorating.
Summary
On the whole, we feel that Waters' 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 a good amount of growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings are expected to accelerate. 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.