Has Rodex Fasteners (GTSM:5015) Got What It Takes To Become A Multi-Bagger?

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base 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. Having said that, from a first glance at Rodex Fasteners (GTSM:5015) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Rodex Fasteners:

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

0.14 = NT$160m ÷ (NT$2.0b - NT$842m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).

So, Rodex Fasteners has an ROCE of 14%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Machinery industry average of 9.4% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Rodex Fasteners

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Rodex Fasteners' ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating Rodex Fasteners' past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Things have been pretty stable at Rodex Fasteners, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. This tells us the company isn't reinvesting in itself, so it's plausible that it's past the growth phase. So unless we see a substantial change at Rodex Fasteners in terms of ROCE and additional investments being made, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger.

On another note, while the change in ROCE trend might not scream for attention, it's interesting that the current liabilities have actually gone up over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 43% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than14% because total capital employed would be higher.The 14% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 43% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. Additionally, this high level of current liabilities isn't ideal because it means the company's suppliers (or short-term creditors) are effectively funding a large portion of the business.

The Bottom Line

We can conclude that in regards to Rodex Fasteners' returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. Yet to long term shareholders the stock has gifted them an incredible 102% return in the last five years, so the market appears to be rosy about its future. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

If you want to continue researching Rodex Fasteners, you might be interested to know about the 4 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

While Rodex Fasteners may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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