A Look Into Greggs' (LON:GRG) Impressive Returns On Capital

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of Greggs (LON:GRG) looks attractive right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for Greggs, this is the formula:

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

0.21 = UK£161m ÷ (UK£1b - UK£236m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2023).

So, Greggs has an ROCE of 21%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Hospitality industry average of 7.0%.

See our latest analysis for Greggs

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Greggs 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.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of Greggs' history of ROCE, it's quite impressive. The company has employed 143% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 21%. Returns like this are the envy of most businesses and given it has repeatedly reinvested at these rates, that's even better. If Greggs can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

In Conclusion...

In short, we'd argue Greggs has the makings of a multi-bagger since its been able to compound its capital at very profitable rates of return. On top of that, the stock has rewarded shareholders with a remarkable 133% return to those who've held over the last five years. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

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

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning 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.