Caldwell Partners International (TSE:CWL) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 16% over the last three months. However, we wonder if the company's inconsistent financials would have any adverse impact on the current share price momentum. In this article, we decided to focus on Caldwell Partners International's ROE.

ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for Caldwell Partners International

How Is ROE Calculated?

Return on equity 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 Caldwell Partners International is:

15% = CA$3.4m ÷ CA$23m (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2021).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each CA$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made CA$0.15 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. 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. 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.

Caldwell Partners International's Earnings Growth And 15% ROE

At first glance, Caldwell Partners International seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 15%. Despite the modest returns, Caldwell Partners International's five year net income growth was quite low, averaging at only 4.5%. A few likely reasons that could be keeping earnings growth low are - the company has a high payout ratio or the business has allocated capital poorly, for instance.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Caldwell Partners International's reported growth was lower than the industry growth of 23% in the same period, which is not something we like 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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is Caldwell Partners International fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Caldwell Partners International Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

While the company did pay out a portion of its dividend in the past, it currently doesn't pay a dividend. We infer that the company has been reinvesting all of its profits to grow its business.

Conclusion

In total, we're a bit ambivalent about Caldwell Partners International's performance. Despite the high ROE, the company has a disappointing earnings growth number, due to its poor rate of reinvestment into its business. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. To know the 4 risks we have identified for Caldwell Partners International 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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