Many Would Be Envious Of CorVel's (NASDAQ:CRVL) Excellent Returns On Capital

If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of CorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL) looks attractive right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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 CorVel:

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

0.35 = US$85m ÷ (US$415m - US$171m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

Thus, CorVel has an ROCE of 35%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Healthcare industry average of 10%.

See our latest analysis for CorVel

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you'd like to look at how CorVel has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

The Trend Of ROCE

CorVel deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has employed 68% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 35%. Now considering ROCE is an attractive 35%, this combination is actually pretty appealing because it means the business can consistently put money to work and generate these high returns. If CorVel can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

On a separate but related note, it's important to know that CorVel has a current liabilities to total assets ratio of 41%, which we'd consider pretty high. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

The Key Takeaway

CorVel has demonstrated its proficiency by generating high returns on increasing amounts of capital employed, which we're thrilled about. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 190% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.

CorVel does come with some risks though, we found 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those can't be ignored...

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks 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.