Capital Investment Trends At Graco (NYSE:GGG) Look Strong

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. With that in mind, the ROCE of Graco (NYSE:GGG) looks attractive right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

What Is 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. The formula for this calculation on Graco is:

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

0.27 = US$537m ÷ (US$2.4b - US$424m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2022).

Thus, Graco has an ROCE of 27%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Machinery industry average of 10%.

Our analysis indicates that GGG is potentially undervalued!

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Graco compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Graco.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

We'd be pretty happy with returns on capital like Graco. The company has employed 84% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 27%. With returns that high, it's great that the business can continually reinvest its money at such appealing rates of return. If these trends can continue, it wouldn't surprise us if the company became a multi-bagger.

In Conclusion...

In short, we'd argue Graco has the makings of a multi-bagger since its been able to compound its capital at very profitable rates of return. Therefore it's no surprise that shareholders have earned a respectable 51% return if they held over the last five years. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

On the other side of ROCE, we have to consider valuation. That's why we have a FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform that is definitely worth checking out.

If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.