Shareholders Would Enjoy A Repeat Of Navigator Company's (ELI:NVG) Recent Growth In Returns

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. With that in mind, the ROCE of Navigator Company (ELI:NVG) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

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 Navigator Company, this is the formula:

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

0.28 = €598m ÷ (€2.9b - €789m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

So, Navigator Company has an ROCE of 28%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Forestry industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Navigator Company

In the above chart we have measured Navigator Company'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.

The Trend Of ROCE

Navigator Company's ROCE growth is quite impressive. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 123% over the last five years. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.

The Bottom Line On Navigator Company's ROCE

As discussed above, Navigator Company appears to be getting more proficient at generating returns since capital employed has remained flat but earnings (before interest and tax) are up. Since the total return from the stock has been almost flat over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here if the valuation looks good. That being the case, research into the company's current valuation metrics and future prospects seems fitting.

One more thing: We've identified 2 warning signs with Navigator Company (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them would certainly be useful.

Navigator Company is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.