Is Rush Enterprises, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RUSH.B) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?

Simply Wall St
·3 min read

Rush Enterprises' (NASDAQ:RUSH.B) stock is up by a considerable 15% over the past three months. Given that the market rewards strong financials in the long-term, we wonder if that is the case in this instance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Rush Enterprises' ROE today.

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.

Check out our latest analysis for Rush Enterprises

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 Rush Enterprises is:

13% = US$178m ÷ US$1.4b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.13 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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. 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.

Rush Enterprises' Earnings Growth And 13% ROE

To start with, Rush Enterprises' ROE looks acceptable. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 16%. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the decent growth of 14% seen over the past five years by Rush Enterprises.

As a next step, we compared Rush Enterprises' net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 13% in the same period.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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 Rush Enterprises''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Rush Enterprises Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

In Rush Enterprises' case, its respectable earnings growth can probably be explained by its low three-year median payout ratio of 14% (or a retention ratio of 86%), which suggests that the company is investing most of its profits to grow its business.

Additionally, Rush Enterprises has paid dividends over a period of three years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Rush Enterprises' performance. 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 substantial growth in its earnings. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. 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.

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.

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