Is Hawkins, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:HWKN) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Fundamentals In Any Way?
Hawkins’ ROE.” data-reactid=”28″>Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 13% over the last three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company’s financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. In this article, we decided to focus on Hawkins’ ROE.
Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company’s management is utilizing the company’s capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
See our latest analysis for Hawkins ” data-reactid=”30″> See our latest analysis for Hawkins
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Hawkins is:
12% = US$30m ÷ US$243m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).
The ‘return’ refers to a company’s earnings over the last year. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.12 in profit.
Why Is ROE Important For 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. 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.
A Side By Side comparison of Hawkins’ Earnings Growth And 12% ROE
To start with, Hawkins’ ROE looks acceptable. Further, the company’s ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 10%. Given the circumstances, we can’t help but wonder why Hawkins saw little to no growth in the past five years. Therefore, there could be some other aspects that could potentially be preventing the company from growing. Such as, the company pays out a huge portion of its earnings as dividends, or is faced with competitive pressures.
We then compared Hawkins’ net income growth with the industry and found that the company’s growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 8.6% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.
![past-earnings-growth](https://s.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif)
3 valuation measures might help you decide.” data-reactid=”58″>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. Is Hawkins fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.
Is Hawkins Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?
Despite having a moderate three-year median payout ratio of 32% (meaning the company retains68% of profits) in the last three-year period, Hawkins’ earnings growth was more or les flat. So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.
Additionally, Hawkins has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years, which means that the company’s management is determined to pay dividends even if it means little to no earnings growth.
Conclusion
detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.” data-reactid=”67″>In total, it does look like Hawkins has some positive aspects to its business. However, given the high ROE and high profit retention, we would expect the company to be delivering strong earnings growth, but that isn’t the case here. This suggests that there might be some external threat to the business, that’s hampering its growth. So far, we’ve only made a quick discussion around the company’s earnings growth. You can do your own research on Hawkins and see how it has performed in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flows.
Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected].” data-reactid=”68″>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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected].