It is hard to get excited after looking at Sunland Group's (ASX:SDG) recent performance, when its stock has declined 4.0% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Sunland Group's ROE in this article.

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 Sunland Group

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

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 Sunland Group is:

27% = AU$93m ÷ AU$347m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every A$1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn A$0.27 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And 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. 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.

Sunland Group's Earnings Growth And 27% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that Sunland Group has a significantly high ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 8.3% which is quite remarkable. This likely paved the way for the modest 6.2% net income growth seen by Sunland Group over the past five years. growth

As a next step, we compared Sunland Group's net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 0.7%.

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). This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Sunland Group's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Sunland Group Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Sunland Group has a significant three-year median payout ratio of 56%, meaning that it is left with only 44% to reinvest into its business. This implies that the company has been able to achieve decent earnings growth despite returning most of its profits to shareholders.

Moreover, Sunland Group is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of nine years of paying a dividend.

Summary

In total, we are pretty happy with Sunland Group's performance. We are particularly impressed by the considerable earnings growth posted by the company, which was likely backed by its high ROE. While the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends, it has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's probably a good sign. Until now, we have only just grazed the surface of the company's past performance by looking at the company's fundamentals. You can do your own research on Sunland Group and see how it has performed in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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