Our Take On The Returns On Capital At Jensen-Group (EBR:JEN)

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Jensen-Group (EBR:JEN) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for Jensen-Group, this is the formula:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.049 = €9.1m ÷ (€277m - €91m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

Thus, Jensen-Group has an ROCE of 4.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Machinery industry average of 8.6%.

Check out our latest analysis for Jensen-Group

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Jensen-Group's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Jensen-Group's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 21% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se.

On a side note, Jensen-Group has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 33% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

In Conclusion...

We're a bit apprehensive about Jensen-Group because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. Investors must expect better things on the horizon though because the stock has risen 12% in the last five years. Regardless, we don't like the trends as they are and if they persist, we think you might find better investments elsewhere.

Jensen-Group does come with some risks though, we found 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those shouldn't be ignored...

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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