Is Resources Connection, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:RGP) Recent Stock Performance Tethered To Its Strong Fundamentals?

Resources Connection's (NASDAQ:RGP) stock is up by a considerable 11% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on Resources Connection's ROE.

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. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

See our latest analysis for Resources Connection

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Resources Connection is:

20% = US$70m ÷ US$357m (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2022).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.20 in profit.

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. 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 Resources Connection's Earnings Growth And 20% ROE

To begin with, Resources Connection seems to have a respectable ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 16% the company's ROE looks quite decent. This certainly adds some context to Resources Connection's moderate 17% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then performed a comparison between Resources Connection's net income growth with the industry, which revealed that the company's growth is similar to the average industry growth of 17% in the same period.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. One good indicator of expected earnings growth is the P/E ratio which determines the price the market is willing to pay for a stock based on its earnings prospects. So, you may want to check if Resources Connection is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Is Resources Connection Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

While Resources Connection has a three-year median payout ratio of 54% (which means it retains 46% of profits), the company has still seen a fair bit of earnings growth in the past, meaning that its high payout ratio hasn't hampered its ability to grow.

Additionally, Resources Connection has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Resources Connection's performance. In particular, its high ROE is quite noteworthy and also the probable explanation behind its considerable earnings growth. Yet, the company is retaining a small portion of its profits. Which means that the company has been able to grow its earnings in spite of it, so that's not too bad. With that said, on studying the latest analyst forecasts, we found that while the company has seen growth in its past earnings, analysts expect its future earnings to shrink. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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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.