Origin Energy's (ASX:ORG) stock up by 7.1% 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 Origin Energy's 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.

View our latest analysis for Origin Energy

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

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

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Origin Energy is:

15% = AU$1.4b ÷ AU$9.5b (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. That means that for every A$1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated A$0.15 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With 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.

Origin Energy's Earnings Growth And 15% ROE

To begin with, Origin Energy seems to have a respectable ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 9.0% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Origin Energy was able to see a decent growth of 11% over the last five years.

Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Origin Energy's growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 7.3% 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). Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. Is ORG fairly valued? This infographic on the company's intrinsic value has everything you need to know.

Is Origin Energy Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

The high LTM (or last twelve month) payout ratio of 68% (or a retention ratio of 32%) for Origin Energy suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders.

Additionally, Origin Energy 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. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 78%. Therefore, the company's future ROE is also not expected to change by much with analysts predicting an ROE of 13%.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Origin Energy's performance has been quite good. Especially the high ROE, Which has contributed to the impressive growth seen in earnings. Despite the company reinvesting only a small portion of its profits, it still has managed to grow its earnings so that is appreciable. 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.

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.