If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. That's why when we briefly looked at Energy's (BIT:ENY) ROCE trend, we were very happy with what we saw.
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Energy:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.48 = €32m ÷ (€107m - €41m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).
Therefore, Energy has an ROCE of 48%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Electrical industry average of 15%.
View our latest analysis for Energy
In the above chart we have measured Energy's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
We'd be pretty happy with returns on capital like Energy. Over the past four years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 48% and the business has deployed 8,043% more capital into its operations. Now considering ROCE is an attractive 48%, this combination is actually pretty appealing because it means the business can consistently put money to work and generate these high returns. If these trends can continue, it wouldn't surprise us if the company became a multi-bagger.
One more thing to note, even though ROCE has remained relatively flat over the last four years, the reduction in current liabilities to 38% 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 Bottom Line On Energy's ROCE
In the end, the company has proven it can reinvest it's capital at high rates of returns, which you'll remember is a trait of a multi-bagger. However, despite the favorable fundamentals, the stock has fallen 17% over the last year, so there might be an opportunity here for astute investors. For that reason, savvy investors might want to look further into this company in case it's a prime investment.
On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Energy you'll probably want to know about.
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.
About BIT:ENY
Energy
Designs and distributes energy storage systems for residential, commercial, and industrial applications worldwide.
High growth potential with excellent balance sheet.