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. 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) we really liked what we saw.
What Is 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. To calculate this metric for Valmont Industries, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.20 = US$521m ÷ (US$3.4b - US$761m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).
Therefore, Valmont Industries has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Construction industry average of 11%.
See our latest analysis for Valmont Industries
In the above chart we have measured Valmont Industries' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Valmont Industries for free.
What Does the ROCE Trend For Valmont Industries Tell Us?
Valmont Industries has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 79% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company's efficiencies. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.
The Bottom Line
To sum it up, Valmont Industries is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. And a remarkable 217% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.
While Valmont Industries looks impressive, no company is worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic for VMI helps visualize whether it is currently trading for a fair price.
If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.
Valuation is complex, but we're here to simplify it.
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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.