Returns At Roots (TSE:ROOT) Appear To Be Weighed Down

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at Roots (TSE:ROOT) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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 Roots, this is the formula:

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

0.072 = CA$24m ÷ (CA$398m - CA$67m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2021).

Therefore, Roots has an ROCE of 7.2%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Specialty Retail industry average of 18%.

See our latest analysis for Roots

In the above chart we have measured Roots' 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 Roots.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Things have been pretty stable at Roots, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. This tells us the company isn't reinvesting in itself, so it's plausible that it's past the growth phase. With that in mind, unless investment picks up again in the future, we wouldn't expect Roots to be a multi-bagger going forward.

In Conclusion...

In a nutshell, Roots has been trudging along with the same returns from the same amount of capital over the last five years. Unsurprisingly then, the total return to shareholders over the last three years has been flat. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

Roots does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and 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.