The Returns On Capital At PageGroup (LON:PAGE) Don't Inspire Confidence

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing 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. Although, when we looked at PageGroup (LON:PAGE), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for PageGroup:

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

0.19 = UK£81m ÷ (UK£675m - UK£249m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Thus, PageGroup has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Professional Services industry average of 12% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for PageGroup

Above you can see how the current ROCE for PageGroup compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for PageGroup.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

In terms of PageGroup's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 40%, but since then they've fallen to 19%. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

Our Take On PageGroup's ROCE

To conclude, we've found that PageGroup is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Investors must think there's better things to come because the stock has knocked it out of the park, delivering a 111% gain to shareholders who have held over the last five years. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing PageGroup, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

While PageGroup 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.

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.

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