Is American Water Works Company, Inc.'s (NYSE:AWK) ROE Of 9.3% Impressive?
Is American Water Works Company, Inc.'s (NYSE:AWK) ROE Of 9.3% Impressive?
Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE). To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK).
許多投資者仍在學習分析股票時可能有用的各種指標。本文適用於那些想了解股本回報率（ROE）的人。爲了使課程以實用爲基礎，我們將使用投資回報率來更好地了解美國自來水公司（紐約證券交易所代碼：AWK）。
ROE or return on equity is a useful tool to assess how effectively a company can generate returns on the investment it received from its shareholders. Put another way, it reveals the company's success at turning shareholder investments into profits.
ROE或股本回報率是評估公司如何有效地從股東那裏獲得的投資回報的有用工具。換句話說，它揭示了該公司在將股東投資轉化爲利潤方面的成功。
View our latest analysis for American Water Works Company
查看我們對美國自來水公司的最新分析
How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?
你如何計算股本回報率？
Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:
股本回報率可以使用以下公式計算：
Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity
股本回報率 = 淨利潤（來自持續經營）¥股東權益
So, based on the above formula, the ROE for American Water Works Company is:
因此，根據上述公式，美國自來水公司的投資回報率爲：
9.3% = US$920m ÷ US$9.9b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).
9.3% = 9.2億美元 ¥99億美元（基於截至2023年9月的過去十二個月）。
The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.09 in profit.
“回報” 是過去十二個月的利潤。這意味着，公司每獲得價值1美元的股東權益，就會產生0.09美元的利潤。
Does American Water Works Company Have A Good ROE?
美國自來水公司的投資回報率是否良好？
Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. The image below shows that American Water Works Company has an ROE that is roughly in line with the Water Utilities industry average (8.1%).
可以說，評估公司投資回報率的最簡單方法是將其與行業平均水平進行比較。但是，這種方法僅在粗略檢查時有用，因爲各公司在相同的行業分類中確實存在很大差異。下圖顯示，美國自來水公司的投資回報率與自來水公司行業的平均水平（8.1％）大致持平。
So while the ROE is not exceptional, at least its acceptable. Although the ROE is similar to the industry, we should still perform further checks to see if the company's ROE is being boosted by high debt levels. If so, this increases its exposure to financial risk. Our risks dashboardshould have the 4 risks we have identified for American Water Works Company.
因此，儘管投資回報率並不例外，但至少是可以接受的。儘管投資回報率與行業相似，但我們仍應進行進一步檢查，看看高額債務水平是否提振了公司的投資回報率。如果是這樣，這會增加其金融風險敞口。我們的風險儀表板應包含我們爲美國自來水公司確定的4種風險。
How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?
債務如何影響股本回報率？
Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won't affect the total equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.
幾乎所有公司都需要資金來投資業務，增加利潤。這些現金可以來自留存收益、發行新股（股權）或債務。對於第一和第二種選擇，投資回報率將反映現金用於增長的這種用途。在後一種情況下，用於增長的債務將提高回報，但不會影響總資產。以這種方式，債務的使用將提高投資回報率，儘管該業務的核心經濟學保持不變。
Combining American Water Works Company's Debt And Its 9.3% Return On Equity
合併美國自來水公司的債務及其9.3％的股本回報率
It's worth noting the high use of debt by American Water Works Company, leading to its debt to equity ratio of 1.23. With a fairly low ROE, and significant use of debt, it's hard to get excited about this business at the moment. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it.
值得注意的是，美國自來水公司大量使用債務，導致其負債權益比率爲1.23。由於投資回報率相當低，而且債務使用量很大，目前很難對這項業務感到興奮。債務會增加風險，減少公司未來的選擇，因此您通常希望從使用債務中獲得豐厚的回報。
Summary
摘要
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.
股本回報率可用於比較不同業務的質量。在我們的賬目中，儘管債務較低，但質量最高的公司仍具有較高的股本回報率。如果兩家公司的債權比例大致相同，而另一家公司的投資回報率更高，我通常更喜歡投資回報率較高的公司。
But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
但是投資回報率只是更大難題的一部分，因爲高質量的企業通常以高倍的收益進行交易。利潤增長率與股票價格所反映的預期相比，是一個特別重要的考慮因素。因此，我認爲可能值得查看這份關於公司分析師預測的免費報告。
But note: American Water Works Company may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
但請注意：美國自來水公司可能不是最值得購買的股票。因此，來看看這份投資回報率高、債務低的有趣公司的免費清單。
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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.
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Simply Wall St的這篇文章本質上是籠統的。我們僅使用公正的方法根據歷史數據和分析師的預測提供評論，我們的文章無意作爲財務建議。它不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議，也沒有考慮到您的目標或財務狀況。我們的目標是爲您提供由基本數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意，我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。簡而言之，華爾街沒有持有任何上述股票的頭寸。