The Eastern Company's (NASDAQ:EML) Stock Has Seen Strong Momentum: Does That Call For Deeper Study Of Its Financial Prospects?

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 39% over the last three months. We wonder if and what role the company's financials play in that price change as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Eastern's ROE.

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 other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

View our latest analysis for Eastern

How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Eastern is:

9.9% = US$10m ÷ US$103m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

The 'return' is the income the business earned over the last year. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.10.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. 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 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.

Eastern's Earnings Growth And 9.9% ROE

On the face of it, Eastern's ROE is not much to talk about. Yet, a closer study shows that the company's ROE is similar to the industry average of 11%. Even so, Eastern has shown a fairly decent growth in its net income which grew at a rate of 19%. Taking into consideration that the ROE is not particularly high, we reckon that there could also be other factors at play which could be influencing the company's growth. For instance, the company has a low payout ratio or is being managed efficiently.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Eastern's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 10.0% in the same period, which is great to see.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. It’s important for an investor to know whether the market has priced in the company's expected earnings growth (or decline). 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 Eastern's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Eastern Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Eastern has a three-year median payout ratio of 27%, which implies that it retains the remaining 73% of its profits. This suggests that its dividend is well covered, and given the decent growth seen by the company, it looks like management is reinvesting its earnings efficiently.

Besides, Eastern has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders.

Summary

Overall, we feel that Eastern certainly does have some positive factors to consider. Despite its low rate of return, the fact that the company reinvests a very high portion of its profits into its business, no doubt contributed to its high earnings 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. To know the 3 risks we have identified for Eastern visit our risks dashboard for free.

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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