Yahoo Finance Endava (NYSE:DAVA) May Have Issues Allocating Its Capital
There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. In light of that, when we looked at Endava (NYSE:DAVA) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
Understanding 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 Endava, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.20 = UK£79m ÷ (UK£514m - UK£117m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).
So, Endava has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the IT industry average of 14% it's much better.
View our latest analysis for Endava
In the above chart we have measured Endava's 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 Endava here for free.
What Does the ROCE Trend For Endava Tell Us?
When we looked at the ROCE trend at Endava, we didn't gain much confidence. Around five years ago the returns on capital were 57%, but since then they've fallen to 20%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.
On a related note, Endava has decreased its current liabilities to 23% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.
In Conclusion...
In summary, despite lower returns in the short term, we're encouraged to see that Endava is reinvesting for growth and has higher sales as a result. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 511% return over the last three years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So should these growth trends continue, we'd be optimistic on the stock going forward.
If you want to continue researching Endava, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.
If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.
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.
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