BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (NYSE:BJ) Knows How To Allocate Capital Effectively

There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. So when we looked at the ROCE trend of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings (NYSE:BJ) 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. The formula for this calculation on BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings is:

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

0.20 = US$750m ÷ (US$6.3b - US$2.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2023).

Therefore, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings has an ROCE of 20%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 11% earned by companies in a similar industry.

See our latest analysis for BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

We like the trends that we're seeing from BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 20%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 110%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

On a side note, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings' current liabilities are still rather high at 40% of total assets. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

The Bottom Line

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings has. Since the stock has returned a staggering 184% to shareholders over the last three years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

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.

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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.