Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) Knows How To Allocate Capital

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, the ROCE of Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) looks attractive right now, so lets see what the trend of returns can tell us.

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

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Pool:

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

0.27 = US$710m ÷ (US$3.8b - US$1.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

Thus, Pool has an ROCE of 27%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 18% earned by companies in a similar industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Pool

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Pool 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 Pool for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Pool deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has employed 143% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 27%. With returns that high, it's great that the business can continually reinvest its money at such appealing rates of return. If Pool can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

In Conclusion...

In the end, the company has proven it can reinvest it's capital at high rates of returns, which you'll remember is a trait of a multi-bagger. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 102% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

On a separate note, we've found 1 warning sign for Pool you'll probably want to know about.

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.