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Is Agilent Technologies, Inc.'s (NYSE:A) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

editorial-team@simplywallst.com (Simply Wall St)
·3-min read

Agilent Technologies' (NYSE:A) stock is up by a considerable 14% 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 Agilent Technologies' ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

View our latest analysis for Agilent Technologies

How Is ROE Calculated?

ROE 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 Agilent Technologies is:

20% = US$1.2b ÷ US$6.2b (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.20.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. 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.

Agilent Technologies' Earnings Growth And 20% ROE

To start with, Agilent Technologies' ROE looks acceptable. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 10% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. This certainly adds some context to Agilent Technologies' decent 7.7% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared Agilent Technologies' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 16% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

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). By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is A worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether A is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Agilent Technologies Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Agilent Technologies' three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 20% (implying that it retains 80% of its income), which is on the lower side, so it seems like the management is reinvesting profits heavily to grow its business.

Besides, Agilent Technologies has been paying dividends for at least ten years or more. This shows that the company is committed to sharing profits with its shareholders. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company is expected to keep paying out approximately 17% of its profits over the next three years. Still, forecasts suggest that Agilent Technologies' future ROE will rise to 26% even though the the company's payout ratio is not expected to change by much.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Agilent Technologies' performance has been quite good. 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 a good amount of growth in its earnings. The latest industry analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to maintain its current growth rate. 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.

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.