PBG's (BVMF:PTBL3) 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. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. So on that note, PBG (BVMF:PTBL3) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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 PBG, this is the formula:

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

0.16 = R$237m ÷ (R$2.2b - R$770m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).

Thus, PBG has an ROCE of 16%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Building industry average of 14%.

See our latest analysis for PBG

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for PBG's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of PBG, check out these free graphs here.

What Can We Tell From PBG's ROCE Trend?

PBG is displaying some positive trends. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 16%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 59% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at PBG thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

The Bottom Line

In summary, it's great to see that PBG can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. And a remarkable 300% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

On a separate note, we've found 3 warning signs for PBG you'll probably want to know about.

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. 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.