Napco Security Technologies (NASDAQ:NSSC) has had a rough month with its share price down 11%. But if you pay close attention, you might gather that its strong financials could mean that the stock could potentially see an increase in value in the long-term, given how markets usually reward companies with good financial health. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Napco Security 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 Napco Security Technologies

How To 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 Napco Security Technologies is:

28% = US$51m ÷ US$179m (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder's investments, the company generates a profit of $0.28.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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 Napco Security Technologies' Earnings Growth And 28% ROE

To begin with, Napco Security Technologies has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Second, a comparison with the average ROE reported by the industry of 10% also doesn't go unnoticed by us. So, the substantial 35% net income growth seen by Napco Security Technologies over the past five years isn't overly surprising.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Napco Security 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 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 NSSC worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether NSSC is currently mispriced by the market.

Is Napco Security Technologies Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

Napco Security Technologies has a really low three-year median payout ratio of 22%, meaning that it has the remaining 78% left over to reinvest into its business. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

While Napco Security Technologies has been growing its earnings, it only recently started to pay dividends which likely means that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Napco Security Technologies' performance has been quite good. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. With that said, the latest industry analyst forecasts reveal that the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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.