What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? 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. Ergo, when we looked at the ROCE trends at FFRI Security (TSE:3692), we liked what we saw.
We've discovered 1 warning sign about FFRI Security. View them for free.Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
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 FFRI Security:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.20 = JP¥464m ÷ (JP¥3.7b - JP¥1.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).
So, FFRI Security has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Software industry average of 16%.
View our latest analysis for FFRI Security
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're interested in investigating FFRI Security's past further, check out this free graph covering FFRI Security's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
FFRI Security deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has employed 37% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 20%. With returns that high, it's great that the business can continually reinvest its money at such appealing rates of return. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.
Our Take On FFRI Security'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. And since the stock has risen strongly over the last five years, it appears the market might expect this trend to continue. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.
One more thing to note, we've identified 1 warning sign with FFRI Security and understanding it should be part of your investment process.
If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.
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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.