Returns On Capital At UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) Paint A Concerning Picture

Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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. The formula for this calculation on UniFirst is:

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

0.07 = US$164m ÷ (US$2.6b - US$263m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2024).

So, UniFirst has an ROCE of 7.0%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Commercial Services industry average of 9.9%.

View our latest analysis for UniFirst

In the above chart we have measured UniFirst's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for UniFirst .

What Does the ROCE Trend For UniFirst Tell Us?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at UniFirst, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 11%, but since then they've fallen to 7.0%. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

What We Can Learn From UniFirst's ROCE

While returns have fallen for UniFirst 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 5.0% 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.

If you're still interested in UniFirst it's worth checking out our FREE intrinsic value approximation for UNF to see if it's trading at an attractive price in other respects.

While UniFirst 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.