Return Trends At Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) Aren't Appealing

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. That's why when we briefly looked at Federal Signal's (NYSE:FSS) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.

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 Federal Signal:

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

0.14 = US$210m ÷ (US$1.7b - US$203m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, Federal Signal has an ROCE of 14%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 13% generated by the Machinery industry.

See our latest analysis for Federal Signal

In the above chart we have measured Federal Signal's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Federal Signal.

How Are Returns Trending?

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has consistently earned 14% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 70% in that time. Since 14% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

Our Take On Federal Signal's ROCE

To sum it up, Federal Signal has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent rates of return. On top of that, the stock has rewarded shareholders with a remarkable 276% return to those who've held over the last five years. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.

If you're still interested in Federal Signal it's worth checking out our FREE intrinsic value approximation to see if it's trading at an attractive price in other respects.

While Federal Signal 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.