Some Investors May Be Worried About Natus Medical's (NASDAQ:NTUS) Returns On Capital

What underlying fundamental trends can indicate that a company might be in decline? When we see a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) in conjunction with a declining base of capital employed, that's often how a mature business shows signs of aging. This indicates the company is producing less profit from its investments and its total assets are decreasing. And from a first read, things don't look too good at Natus Medical (NASDAQ:NTUS), so let's see why.

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. To calculate this metric for Natus Medical, this is the formula:

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

0.065 = US$29m ÷ (US$564m - US$115m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

So, Natus Medical has an ROCE of 6.5%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Medical Equipment industry average of 8.2%.

View our latest analysis for Natus Medical

In the above chart we have measured Natus Medical'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 report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

The trend of returns that Natus Medical is generating are raising some concerns. To be more specific, today's ROCE was 10.0% five years ago but has since fallen to 6.5%. On top of that, the business is utilizing 21% less capital within its operations. The fact that both are shrinking is an indication that the business is going through some tough times. Typically businesses that exhibit these characteristics aren't the ones that tend to multiply over the long term, because statistically speaking, they've already gone through the growth phase of their life cycle.

The Bottom Line

In short, lower returns and decreasing amounts capital employed in the business doesn't fill us with confidence. It should come as no surprise then that the stock has fallen 27% over the last five years, so it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With underlying trends that aren't great in these areas, we'd consider looking elsewhere.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Natus Medical that you might find interesting.

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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.