Return on equity (ROE) measures the rate of return on the money invested by common stock owners and retained by the company thanks to previous profitable years. It demonstrates a company's ability to generate profits from shareholders' equity (also known as net assets or assets minus liabilities).
ROE shows how well a company uses investment funds to generate growth. Return on equity is useful for comparing the profitability of companies within a sector or industry.
Investors generally are interested in company's that have high, increasing returns on equity