Most readers would already know that ICC Holdings' (NASDAQ:ICCH) stock increased by 2.0% over the past three months. However, we decided to study the company's mixed-bag of fundamentals to assess what this could mean for future share prices, as stock prices tend to be aligned with a company's long-term financial performance. Particularly, we will be paying attention to ICC Holdings' ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for ICC Holdings

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

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 ICC Holdings is:

5.3% = US$3.6m ÷ US$68m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.05 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. 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. 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.

ICC Holdings' Earnings Growth And 5.3% ROE

At first glance, ICC Holdings' ROE doesn't look very promising. A quick further study shows that the company's ROE doesn't compare favorably to the industry average of 13% either. As a result, ICC Holdings reported a very low income growth of 3.7% over the past five years.

As a next step, we compared ICC Holdings' net income growth with the industry and were disappointed to see that the company's growth is lower than the industry average growth of 10% in the same period.

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 ICCH worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether ICCH is currently mispriced by the market.

Is ICC Holdings Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

ICC Holdings doesn't pay any regular dividends, meaning that potentially all of its profits are being reinvested in the business. However, there's only been very little earnings growth to show for it. Therefore, there might be some other reasons to explain the lack in that respect. For example, the business could be in decline.

Conclusion

Overall, we have mixed feelings about ICC Holdings. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. Wrapping up, we would proceed with caution with this company and one way of doing that would be to look at the risk profile of the business. To know the 2 risks we have identified for ICC Holdings visit our risks dashboard for free.

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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.