We Like These Underlying Return On Capital Trends At ManTech International (NASDAQ:MANT)

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. So when we looked at ManTech International (NASDAQ:MANT) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for ManTech International, this is the formula:

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

0.089 = US$171m ÷ (US$2.3b - US$367m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).

Thus, ManTech International has an ROCE of 8.9%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 11% average generated by the Professional Services industry.

Check out our latest analysis for ManTech International

In the above chart we have measured ManTech 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 ManTech International.

How Are Returns Trending?

Even though ROCE is still low in absolute terms, it's good to see it's heading in the right direction. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 8.9%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 41% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at ManTech International thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

The Key Takeaway

To sum it up, ManTech International has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. Since the stock has returned a staggering 114% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing ManTech International that you might find interesting.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

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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.
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