Is Mühlbauer Holding (ETR:MUB) Likely To Turn Things Around?

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. 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Having said that, from a first glance at Mühlbauer Holding (ETR:MUB) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for Mühlbauer Holding, this is the formula:

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

0.12 = €40m ÷ (€367m - €36m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).

Thus, Mühlbauer Holding has an ROCE of 12%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 6.3% generated by the Machinery industry.

See our latest analysis for Mühlbauer Holding

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Mühlbauer Holding's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Mühlbauer Holding has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

How Are Returns Trending?

Over the past five years, Mühlbauer Holding's ROCE and capital employed have both remained mostly flat. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. So don't be surprised if Mühlbauer Holding doesn't end up being a multi-bagger in a few years time.

In Conclusion...

In summary, Mühlbauer Holding isn't compounding its earnings but is generating stable returns on the same amount of capital employed. Since the stock has gained an impressive 87% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. But if the trajectory of these underlying trends continue, we think the likelihood of it being a multi-bagger from here isn't high.

Mühlbauer Holding does have some risks though, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Mühlbauer Holding that you might be interested in.

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. 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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