Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Will Be Hoping To Turn Its Returns On Capital Around

If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing 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. Having said that, while the ROCE is currently high for Lennox International (NYSE:LII), we aren't jumping out of our chairs because returns are decreasing.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Lennox International is:

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

0.37 = US$588m ÷ (US$2.5b - US$859m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

So, Lennox International has an ROCE of 37%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Building industry average of 14%.

Check out our latest analysis for Lennox International

In the above chart we have measured Lennox International'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 Lennox International.

What Can We Tell From Lennox International's ROCE Trend?

In terms of Lennox International's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, while the ROCE is still high, it's fallen from 51% where it was five years ago. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.

On a related note, Lennox International has decreased its current liabilities to 35% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What's more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company's suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Some would claim this reduces the business' efficiency at generating ROCE since it is now funding more of the operations with its own money.

The Bottom Line On Lennox International's ROCE

While returns have fallen for Lennox International in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. In light of this, the stock has only gained 7.6% over the last five years. Therefore we'd recommend looking further into this stock to confirm if it has the makings of a good investment.

Lennox International does have some risks though, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Lennox International that you might be interested in.

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.