If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Although, when we looked at Ampol (ASX:ALD), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Ampol, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.15 = AU$880m ÷ (AU$8.9b - AU$2.9b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).
Thus, Ampol has an ROCE of 15%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Oil and Gas industry average of 12% it's much better.
Check out our latest analysis for Ampol
In the above chart we have measured Ampol's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Ampol.
The Trend Of ROCE
When we looked at the ROCE trend at Ampol, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 24%, but since then they've fallen to 15%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.
Our Take On Ampol's ROCE
Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Ampol. In light of this, the stock has only gained 21% over the last five years. So this stock may still be an appealing investment opportunity, if other fundamentals prove to be sound.
If you want to continue researching Ampol, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.
While Ampol isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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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.
About ASX:ALD
Ampol
Ampol Limited purchases, refines, distributes, and markets petroleum products in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States.
Outstanding track record, undervalued and pays a dividend.
