Stock Analysis

Gruma. de (BMV:GRUMAB) Has Some Way To Go To Become A Multi-Bagger

BMV:GRUMA B
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If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. 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 Gruma. de (BMV:GRUMAB) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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 Gruma. de:

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

0.19 = US$654m ÷ (US$4.8b - US$1.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

Therefore, Gruma. de has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Food industry average of 14% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Gruma. de

roce
BMV:GRUMA B Return on Capital Employed May 3rd 2023

In the above chart we have measured Gruma. de'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.

SWOT Analysis for Gruma. de

Strength
  • Earnings growth over the past year exceeded its 5-year average.
  • Debt is well covered by earnings.
Weakness
  • Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Food industry.
  • Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Food market.
  • Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.
Opportunity
  • Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Mexican market.
Threat
  • Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.
  • Dividends are not covered by cash flow.
  • Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Mexican market.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Gruma. de Tell Us?

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has employed 43% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 19%. 19% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Gruma. de has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

In Conclusion...

The main thing to remember is that Gruma. de has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. And since the stock has risen strongly over the last five years, it appears the market might expect this trend to continue. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

On a final note, we've found 1 warning sign for Gruma. de that we think you should be aware of.

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.

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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.