The Returns At Entravision Communications (NYSE:EVC) Aren't Growing

What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Entravision Communications' (NYSE:EVC) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.

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. To calculate this metric for Entravision Communications, this is the formula:

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

0.11 = US$67m ÷ (US$862m - US$234m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

So, Entravision Communications has an ROCE of 11%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 6.7% generated by the Media industry.

See our latest analysis for Entravision Communications

In the above chart we have measured Entravision Communications' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Entravision Communications here for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 11% and the business has deployed 29% more capital into its operations. 11% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Entravision Communications has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

Another point to note, we noticed the company has increased current liabilities over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 27% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than11% because total capital employed would be higher.The 11% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 27% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. So while current liabilities isn't high right now, keep an eye out in case it increases further, because this can introduce some elements of risk.

In Conclusion...

The main thing to remember is that Entravision Communications has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. In light of this, the stock has only gained 0.004% over the last five years for shareholders who have owned the stock in this period. So because of the trends we're seeing, we'd recommend looking further into this stock to see if it has the makings of a multi-bagger.

Entravision Communications does have some risks, we noticed 5 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

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.