Corporativo Fragua. de (BMV:FRAGUAB) Is Looking To Continue Growing Its Returns On Capital

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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Corporativo Fragua. de's (BMV:FRAGUAB) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

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 Corporativo Fragua. de:

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

0.16 = Mex$3.3b ÷ (Mex$37b - Mex$17b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

Therefore, Corporativo Fragua. de has an ROCE of 16%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.7% generated by the Consumer Retailing industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Corporativo Fragua. de

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Corporativo Fragua. de 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.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Corporativo Fragua. de is displaying some positive trends. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 16%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 96%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

Another thing to note, Corporativo Fragua. de has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 45%. 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. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

What We Can Learn From Corporativo Fragua. de's ROCE

To sum it up, Corporativo Fragua. de has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 53% return over the last five years. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

Before jumping to any conclusions though, we need to know what value we're getting for the current share price. That's where you can check out our FREE intrinsic value estimation that compares the share price and estimated value.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.