Yahoo Finance AJ Lucas Group (ASX:AJL) Could Become A Multi-Bagger
What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in AJ Lucas Group's (ASX:AJL) returns on capital, so let's have a look.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
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 AJ Lucas Group:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.45 = AU$17m ÷ (AU$104m - AU$67m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).
Therefore, AJ Lucas Group has an ROCE of 45%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 13% earned by companies in a similar industry.
See our latest analysis for AJ Lucas Group
Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for AJ Lucas Group's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how AJ Lucas Group has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
So How Is AJ Lucas Group's ROCE Trending?
We're pretty happy with how the ROCE has been trending at AJ Lucas Group. The data shows that returns on capital have increased by 691% over the trailing five years. That's a very favorable trend because this means that the company is earning more per dollar of capital that's being employed. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 82% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. AJ Lucas Group may be selling some assets so it's worth investigating if the business has plans for future investments to increase returns further still.
For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Effectively this means that suppliers or short-term creditors are now funding 64% of the business, which is more than it was five years ago. And with current liabilities at those levels, that's pretty high.
Our Take On AJ Lucas Group's ROCE
In the end, AJ Lucas Group has proven it's capital allocation skills are good with those higher returns from less amount of capital. Although the company may be facing some issues elsewhere since the stock has plunged 93% in the last five years. In any case, we believe the economic trends of this company are positive and looking into the stock further could prove rewarding.
One more thing: We've identified 4 warning signs with AJ Lucas Group (at least 3 which are significant) , and understanding them would certainly be useful.
AJ Lucas Group is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.
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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.
