UFO Sightings

This 3rd section of this series revolves around another significant element of Warren Buffett’s hugely successful methodology - return on equity (ROE). Now, you may have heard the term “return on equity” before. It’s not a relatively new concept, and it is one that is commonly used in finance. However, its importance must not be taken for granted.

It’s one thing to know what “return on equity” is, while it’s another thing to know how to use it to a hugely positive effect. In other words, Warren Buffett uses a tool that is used by basically everyone in the industry, however, he uses it in a way that no one else does, and this is the lesson that all investors should learn from.

Firstly, I will address the definition of return on equity. ROE simply constitutes the earnings of a company divided by shareholder’s equity. ROE is also frequently called the “stockholder’s return on investment.” because it reveals the rate at which shareholders are bringing in income on their shares. This rate can be considered both good or bad, however this is largely dependent on the company and industry.

For example, a low ROE would be considered bad for a consulting firm because it is in an industry that doesn’t require assets to start generating an income. On the other hand, a low ROE would be acceptable and even good in the oil industry because it is an industry that requires a lot of infrastructure to start generating an income.

Notwithstanding, the type of company or sector is broadly speaking irrelevant in this element of Warren Buffett’s methodology (nevertheless, there exists an exception which is outlined in Part One). The reason why ROE is considered very important to him is to verify whether or not a company has experienced a consistent performance well in comparison to other companies in the same industry. The fundamental word here is consistency. Buffett will always favour a company that has a coherent ROE over one that has a ROE that incessantly wavers. In point of fact companies, which ride on commodities such as oil and gas, are by far not his favourites and tend to have for the most part a unsteady ROE. This point is outlined in Part One of this series.

A good time frame for analysing the ROE of a company is 5 to 10 years. Such a time frame will give you a good idea of the historical performance of the company. A good idea would be to access past financial reports of selected companies, most of which would have their reports uploaded on their website. In addition, it would be useful to research and find the average ROE of selected industries to compare company performances.

The next part of this series will focus on another important element of Buffett’s methodology - debt/equity ratio, and how many investors frequently overlook it. Watch this space!

Filed under: Finance