Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at General Mills (NYSE:GIS) so let's look a bit deeper.
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for General Mills:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.15 = US$3.8b ÷ (US$31b - US$7.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to May 2024).
Therefore, General Mills has an ROCE of 15%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 11% generated by the Food industry.
See our latest analysis for General Mills
Above you can see how the current ROCE for General Mills compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering General Mills for free.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
General Mills' ROCE growth is quite impressive. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 22% in that same time. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.
In Conclusion...
In summary, we're delighted to see that General Mills has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 55% return over the last five years. 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.
If you'd like to know about the risks facing General Mills, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.
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.
About NYSE:GIS
Undervalued established dividend payer.
