Art's-Way Manufacturing (NASDAQ:ARTW) Is Looking To Continue Growing Its Returns On Capital

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Art's-Way Manufacturing (NASDAQ:ARTW) so let's look a bit deeper.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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 Art's-Way Manufacturing:

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

0.046 = US$627k ÷ (US$24m - US$10m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to May 2022).

Thus, Art's-Way Manufacturing has an ROCE of 4.6%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Machinery industry average of 10%.

View our latest analysis for Art's-Way Manufacturing

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 want to delve into the historical earnings, revenue and cash flow of Art's-Way Manufacturing, check out these free graphs here.

So How Is Art's-Way Manufacturing's ROCE Trending?

Art's-Way Manufacturing has broken into the black (profitability) and we're sure it's a sight for sore eyes. The company now earns 4.6% on its capital, because five years ago it was incurring losses. On top of that, what's interesting is that the amount of capital being employed has remained steady, so the business hasn't needed to put any additional money to work to generate these higher returns. So while we're happy that the business is more efficient, just keep in mind that could mean that going forward the business is lacking areas to invest internally for growth. After all, a company can only become a long term multi-bagger if it continually reinvests in itself at high rates of return.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that Art's-Way Manufacturing has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 43%, which we'd consider pretty high. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

The Bottom Line On Art's-Way Manufacturing's ROCE

In summary, we're delighted to see that Art's-Way Manufacturing has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. Since the stock has only returned 19% to shareholders over the last five years, the promising fundamentals may not be recognized yet by investors. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

On a final note, we found 3 warning signs for Art's-Way Manufacturing (1 is a bit concerning) you should be aware of.

While Art's-Way Manufacturing isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.