Canadian National Railway's (TSE:CNR) Returns Have Hit A Wall

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base 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. With that in mind, the ROCE of Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

What is 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 Canadian National Railway, this is the formula:

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

0.13 = CA$5.6b ÷ (CA$45b - CA$3.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

So, Canadian National Railway has an ROCE of 13%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Transportation industry average of 11% it's much better.

Check out our latest analysis for Canadian National Railway

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Canadian National Railway compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. 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 Canadian National Railway Tell Us?

The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. The company has consistently earned 13% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 24% in that time. Since 13% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

In Conclusion...

In the end, Canadian National Railway has proven its ability to adequately reinvest capital at good rates of return. And since the stock has risen strongly over the last five years, it appears the market might expect this trend to continue. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Canadian National Railway that you might find interesting.

While Canadian National Railway 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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