J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Hasn't Managed To Accelerate Its Returns

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after investigating J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

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

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 J. M. Smucker:

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

0.078 = US$1.1b ÷ (US$16b - US$2.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2022).

Thus, J. M. Smucker has an ROCE of 7.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Food industry average of 9.8%.

View our latest analysis for J. M. Smucker

In the above chart we have measured J. M. Smucker'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 J. M. Smucker.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

There hasn't been much to report for J. M. Smucker's returns and its level of capital employed because both metrics have been steady for the past five years. Businesses with these traits tend to be mature and steady operations because they're past the growth phase. So unless we see a substantial change at J. M. Smucker in terms of ROCE and additional investments being made, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger. This probably explains why J. M. Smucker is paying out 42% of its income to shareholders in the form of dividends. Unless businesses have highly compelling growth opportunities, they'll typically return some money to shareholders.

Our Take On J. M. Smucker's ROCE

We can conclude that in regards to J. M. Smucker's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. Although the market must be expecting these trends to improve because the stock has gained 53% over the last five years. But if the trajectory of these underlying trends continue, we think the likelihood of it being a multi-bagger from here isn't high.

One more thing, we've spotted 2 warning signs facing J. M. Smucker that you might find interesting.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive 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.