Slowing Rates Of Return At Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) Leave Little Room For Excitement

What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, the ROCE of Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) looks decent, right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

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 Korn Ferry:

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

0.11 = US$314m ÷ (US$3.6b - US$818m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2025).

So, Korn Ferry has an ROCE of 11%. In isolation, that's a pretty standard return but against the Professional Services industry average of 16%, it's not as good.

Check out our latest analysis for Korn Ferry

In the above chart we have measured Korn Ferry'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 analyst report for Korn Ferry .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. The company has consistently earned 11% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 30% in that time. Since 11% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

In Conclusion...

To sum it up, Korn Ferry has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 213% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

Korn Ferry could be trading at an attractive price in other respects, so you might find our free intrinsic value estimation for KFY on our platform quite valuable.

While Korn Ferry 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.