Here's What James Hardie Industries' (ASX:JHX) Strong Returns On Capital Mean

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Ergo, when we looked at the ROCE trends at James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX), we liked what we saw.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on James Hardie Industries is:

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

0.23 = US$764m ÷ (US$4.0b - US$689m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

Thus, James Hardie Industries has an ROCE of 23%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 8.0% earned by companies in a similar industry.

View our latest analysis for James Hardie Industries

In the above chart we have measured James Hardie Industries' 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 James Hardie Industries.

How Are Returns Trending?

It's hard not to be impressed by James Hardie Industries' returns on capital. The company has consistently earned 23% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 125% in that time. With returns that high, it's great that the business can continually reinvest its money at such appealing rates of return. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.

Our Take On James Hardie Industries' ROCE

In short, we'd argue James Hardie Industries has the makings of a multi-bagger since its been able to compound its capital at very profitable rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 115% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

If you want to continue researching James Hardie Industries, you might be interested to know about the 3 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

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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.