Returns At American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Are On The Way Up

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. 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. 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, we've noticed some promising trends at American States Water (NYSE:AWR) so let's look a bit deeper.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for American States Water, this is the formula:

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

0.096 = US$192m ÷ (US$2.2b - US$195m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

So, American States Water has an ROCE of 9.6%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Water Utilities industry average of 4.4%.

View our latest analysis for American States Water

Above you can see how the current ROCE for American States Water compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

The Trend Of ROCE

While in absolute terms it isn't a high ROCE, it's promising to see that it has been moving in the right direction. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 9.6%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 52%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

Our Take On American States Water's ROCE

To sum it up, American States Water has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. Considering the stock has delivered 19% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

American States Water does come with some risks though, we found 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

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.