Agilent Technologies, Inc.'s (NYSE:A) Stock's On An Uptrend: Are Strong Financials Guiding The Market?

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Most readers would already be aware that Agilent Technologies' (NYSE:A) stock increased significantly by 13% over the past three months. Given the company's impressive performance, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely as a company's financial health over the long-term usually dictates market outcomes. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Agilent Technologies' ROE today.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.

See our latest analysis for Agilent Technologies

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Agilent Technologies is:

14% = US$683m ÷ US$4.8b (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2020).

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 $0.14 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. 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 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.

Agilent Technologies' Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To begin with, Agilent Technologies seems to have a respectable ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 15% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This certainly adds some context to Agilent Technologies' exceptional 20% net income growth seen over the past five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Agilent Technologies' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 14% in the same period, which is great to see.

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

Is Agilent Technologies Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

Agilent Technologies' three-year median payout ratio is a pretty moderate 27%, meaning the company retains 73% of its income. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Agilent Technologies is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.

Additionally, Agilent Technologies has paid dividends over a period of eight years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to drop to 21% over the next three years. The fact that the company's ROE is expected to rise to 21% over the same period is explained by the drop in the payout ratio.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with Agilent Technologies' 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. On studying current analyst estimates, we found that analysts expect the company to continue its recent growth streak. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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