Howmet Aerospace's (NYSE:HWM) stock is up by 8.8% over the past three months. Given its impressive performance, we decided to study the company's key financial indicators as a company's long-term fundamentals usually dictate market outcomes. In this article, we decided to focus on Howmet Aerospace's ROE.

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 short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments.

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How Is ROE Calculated?

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 Howmet Aerospace is:

25% = US$1.2b ÷ US$4.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.25 in profit.

See our latest analysis for Howmet Aerospace

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Based on how much of its profits the company chooses to reinvest or "retain", we are then able to evaluate a company's future ability to generate profits. 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.

Howmet Aerospace's Earnings Growth And 25% ROE

To begin with, Howmet Aerospace has a pretty high ROE which is interesting. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 12% which is quite remarkable. Under the circumstances, Howmet Aerospace's considerable five year net income growth of 40% was to be expected.

We then compared Howmet Aerospace's net income growth with the industry and we're pleased to see that the company's growth figure is higher when compared with the industry which has a growth rate of 12% in the same 5-year period.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. 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. Has the market priced in the future outlook for HWM? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report.

Is Howmet Aerospace Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

Howmet Aerospace's three-year median payout ratio to shareholders is 8.9%, which is quite low. This implies that the company is retaining 91% of its profits. This suggests that the management is reinvesting most of the profits to grow the business as evidenced by the growth seen by the company.

Additionally, Howmet Aerospace has paid dividends over a period of eight years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company is expected to rise to 13% over the next three years. However, Howmet Aerospace's future ROE is expected to rise to 33% despite the expected increase in the company's payout ratio. We infer that there could be other factors that could be driving the anticipated growth in the company's ROE.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that Howmet Aerospace's performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. Having said that, the company's earnings growth is expected to slow down, as forecasted in the current analyst estimates. Are these analysts expectations based on the broad expectations for the industry, or on the company's fundamentals? Click here to be taken to our analyst's forecasts page 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.