Mount Gibson Iron's (ASX:MGX) Returns On Capital Are Heading Higher

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. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) so let's look a bit deeper.

Understanding 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 Mount Gibson Iron is:

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

0.19 = AU$150m ÷ (AU$866m - AU$81m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Therefore, Mount Gibson Iron has an ROCE of 19%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 8.9% generated by the Metals and Mining industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Mount Gibson Iron

In the above chart we have measured Mount Gibson Iron's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Mount Gibson Iron Tell Us?

We're delighted to see that Mount Gibson Iron is reaping rewards from its investments and is now generating some pre-tax profits. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 19% on its capital. In addition to that, Mount Gibson Iron is employing 136% more capital than previously which is expected of a company that's trying to break into profitability. This can tell us that the company has plenty of reinvestment opportunities that are able to generate higher returns.

The Key Takeaway

In summary, it's great to see that Mount Gibson Iron has managed to break into profitability and is continuing to reinvest in its business. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Mount Gibson Iron (of which 1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should know about.

While Mount Gibson Iron may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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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