QBE share price in focus
QBE began as a marine insurance company in Townsville in the late 1800s and has grown into one of Australia’s largest insurers.
Today, the group operates in 27 countries, offering a broad range of insurance products across the commercial, consumer, reinsurance, and agriculture sectors.
Although QBE has Australian origins, only about 30% of its revenue is now generated domestically, with another 30% coming from the United States and the remainder primarily from Europe.
WTC shares
Founded in 1994 by Richard White and Maree Isaacs, Wisetech Global is a developer of cloud-based software used for international and domestic logistics industries.
Wisetech’s vast suite of software products is used across various logistics functions including forwarding & customs, landside transport, rates & contracts, warehousing, and transport management systems.
Their cornerstone software is called Cargowise. It’s become an industry-leading solution now used by all 25 of the largest global freight forwarders and 46 of the top 50 third-party logistics providers.
QBE & WTC share price valuation
We would consider QBE to be a ‘mature’ or ‘blue-chip’ business, so some of the metrics that could be worth considering include the debt/equity ratio, average yield, and return on equity, or ROE. These measures give us a sense of the company’s debt levels, their ability to generate returns from their assets, and their ability to consistently return profits to shareholders.
For CY24, QBE Insurance Group Ltd reported a debt/equity ratio of 27.0%, meaning the company has more equity than debt.
Over the last 5 years, QBE has delivered an average dividend yield of 2.8% per year. This is important to note if you’re looking for income from your investments.
Finally, in CY24, QBE reported an ROE of 17.2%. For a mature business you generally want to see an ROE of more than 10%, so QBE clears this hurdle.
As a growth company, some of the trends we might consider from WTC shares include revenue growth, profit growth, and return on equity (ROE). I say ‘trends’ because it’s always important to look at these figures over a few years. The trend is much more valuable info than a single measure at one point in time.
Over the last 3 years, WTC has increased revenue at a rate of 27.1% per year to hit $1,042m in FY24. Meanwhile, net profit has increased from $108m to $263m. WTC’s last reported ROE was 12.8%.
Please keep in mind that context is important. These metrics give us some indication of company performance, but it’s just the start of valuing QBE or WTC shares. To learn more about valuation, check out one of our free online investing courses.
