Tribal Group's (LON:TRB) Returns Have Hit A Wall

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. So, when we ran our eye over Tribal Group's (LON:TRB) trend of ROCE, we liked what we saw.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Tribal Group:

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

0.12 = UK£7.3m ÷ (UK£102m - UK£40m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

Thus, Tribal Group has an ROCE of 12%. That's a pretty standard return and it's in line with the industry average of 12%.

Check out the opportunities and risks within the GB Consumer Services industry.

In the above chart we have measured Tribal Group's 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 Tribal Group.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Tribal Group Tell Us?

While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. The company has employed 71% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 12%. Since 12% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

One more thing to note, even though ROCE has remained relatively flat over the last five years, the reduction in current liabilities to 39% of total assets, is good to see from a business owner's perspective. This can eliminate some of the risks inherent in the operations because the business has less outstanding obligations to their suppliers and or short-term creditors than they did previously.

The Key Takeaway

To sum it up, Tribal Group has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent rates of return. However, despite the favorable fundamentals, the stock has fallen 38% over the last five years, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. That's why we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the fundamentals are appealing.

If you want to continue researching Tribal Group, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

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.