If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at C. Mer Industries' (TLV:CMER) look very promising so lets take a look.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?
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 C. Mer Industries, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.29 = ₪52m ÷ (₪518m - ₪340m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).
Therefore, C. Mer Industries has an ROCE of 29%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 9.0% earned by companies in a similar industry.
See our latest analysis for C. Mer Industries
While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how C. Mer Industries has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of C. Mer Industries' past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
So How Is C. Mer Industries' ROCE Trending?
C. Mer Industries has recently broken into profitability so their prior investments seem to be paying off. Shareholders would no doubt be pleased with this because the business was loss-making five years ago but is is now generating 29% on its capital. Not only that, but the company is utilizing 21% more capital than before, but that's to be expected from a company trying to break into profitability. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, both common traits of a multi-bagger.
On a side note, C. Mer Industries' current liabilities are still rather high at 66% of total assets. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.
The Bottom Line On C. Mer Industries' ROCE
Overall, C. Mer Industries gets a big tick from us thanks in most part to the fact that it is now profitable and is reinvesting in its business. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.
If you want to continue researching C. Mer Industries, you might be interested to know about the 3 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.
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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.
About TASE:CMER
C. Mer Industries
Provides solutions in the areas of homeland security (HLS), communication infrastructure, and defense technologies.
Solid track record with excellent balance sheet.