Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) Shareholders Will Want The ROCE Trajectory To Continue

To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Public Service Enterprise Group's (NYSE:PEG) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

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. To calculate this metric for Public Service Enterprise Group, this is the formula:

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

0.089 = US$3.9b ÷ (US$50b - US$5.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Thus, Public Service Enterprise Group has an ROCE of 8.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Integrated Utilities industry average of 5.0%.

Check out our latest analysis for Public Service Enterprise Group

In the above chart we have measured Public Service Enterprise Group's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Public Service Enterprise Group.

The Trend Of ROCE

Public Service Enterprise Group has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 49% in that same time. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.

In Conclusion...

To bring it all together, Public Service Enterprise Group has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. Since the stock has only returned 32% to shareholders over the last five years, the promising fundamentals may not be recognized yet by investors. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Public Service Enterprise Group (of which 2 are potentially serious!) that you should know about.

While Public Service Enterprise Group may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.