Most readers would already be aware that QBE Insurance Group's (ASX:QBE) stock increased significantly by 20% over the past three months. Since the market usually pay for a company’s long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the company’s key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on QBE Insurance Group's  ROE.

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 simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

View our latest analysis for QBE Insurance Group

How Do You 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 QBE Insurance Group is:

14% = US$1.4b ÷ US$10.0b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.14 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. 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.

A Side By Side comparison of QBE Insurance Group's Earnings Growth And 14% ROE

To begin with, QBE Insurance Group seems to have a respectable ROE. Even when compared to the industry average of 13% the company's ROE looks quite decent. Consequently, this likely laid the ground for the impressive net income growth of 26% seen over the past five years by QBE Insurance Group. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.



We then compared QBE Insurance Group'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. past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is QBE Insurance Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is QBE Insurance Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

QBE Insurance Group has a three-year median payout ratio of 48% (where it is retaining 52% of its income) which is not too low or not too high. So it seems that QBE Insurance Group is reinvesting efficiently in a way that it sees impressive growth in its earnings (discussed above) and pays a dividend that's well covered.

Moreover, QBE Insurance Group is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 50%. Accordingly, forecasts suggest that QBE Insurance Group's future ROE will be 16% which is again, similar to the current ROE.

Conclusion

In total, we are pretty happy with QBE Insurance Group's performance. Specifically, we like that the company is reinvesting a huge chunk of its profits at a high rate of return. This of course has caused the company to see substantial growth in its earnings. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this freereport on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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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.