How Does Honeywell International Boost Its Returns?

As investors, we need to understand how our companies truly make their money. A neat trick developed for just that purpose -- the DuPont formula -- can help us do so.

The DuPont formula can give you a better grasp on exactly where your company is producing its profit, and where it might have a competitive advantage. Named after the company where it was pioneered, the formula breaks down return on equity into three components:

Return on equity = net margin x asset turnover x leverage ratio

What makes each of these components important?

• High net margins show that a company can get customers to pay more for its products. Luxury-goods companies provide a great example here.
• High asset turnover indicates that a company needs to invest less of its capital, since it uses its assets more efficiently to generate sales. Service industries, for instance, often lack big capital investments.
• Finally, the leverage ratio shows how much the company is relying on liabilities to create its profits.

Generally, the higher these numbers, the better. That said, too much debt can sink a company, so beware of companies with very high leverage ratios.

Let's see what the DuPont formula can tell us about Honeywell International (NYSE: HON  ) and a few of its sector and industry peers:

Company	Return on Equity	Net Margin	Asset Turnover	Leverage Ratio
Honeywell International	23.3%	7.5%	0.95	3.49
BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA  )	23.4%	7.9%	1.18	2.45
Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI  )	16.0%	4.0%	1.47	2.54
Visteon (NYSE: VC  )	57.2%	12.7%	1.53	2.74

Source: S&P Capital IQ.                                                                                                       

Compared to peers, Honeywell uses relatively high leverage to achieve its solid return on equity, but its asset turnover sits at the low end of these peers'. BorgWarner looks similar but uses less leverage and higher asset turnover to earn nearly the same ROE. Johnson Controls offsets a much lower net margin with higher asset turnover, while Visteon takes advantage of its high margin and asset turnover to post a stellar return on equity.

Using the DuPont formula can often give you some insight into how a company is competing against peers and what type of strategy it's using to juice return on equity. To find more successful investments, dig deeper than the earnings headlines.

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