While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. By way of learning-by-doing, we’ll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:WSC).
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. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.
See our latest analysis for WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings is:
27% = US$342m ÷ US$1.3b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
The ‘return’ is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. So, this means that for every $1 of its shareholder’s investments, the company generates a profit of $0.27.
Does WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Have A Good Return On Equity?
Arguably the easiest way to assess company’s ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. As you can see in the graphic below, WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings has a higher ROE than the average (12%) in the Construction industry.
That’s clearly a positive. With that said, a high ROE doesn’t always indicate high profitability. Especially when a firm uses high levels of debt to finance its debt which may boost its ROE but the high leverage puts the company at risk. Our risks dashboardshould have the 2 risks we have identified for WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings.
Why You Should Consider Debt When Looking At ROE
Most companies need money — from somewhere — to grow their profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.
Combining WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings’ Debt And Its 27% Return On Equity
WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings clearly uses a high amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 2.73. There’s no doubt the ROE is impressive, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the metric could have been lower if the company were to reduce its debt. Investors should think carefully about how a company might perform if it was unable to borrow so easily, because credit markets do change over time.
Conclusion
Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In our books, the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I’d generally prefer the one with higher ROE.
Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you’ll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth — and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.
Of course WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have high ROE and low debt.