Yahoo Finance Investors Met With Slowing Returns on Capital At Mainfreight (NZSE:MFT)
What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So, when we ran our eye over Mainfreight's (NZSE:MFT) trend of ROCE, we liked what we saw.
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 Mainfreight, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.16 = NZ$284m ÷ (NZ$2.5b - NZ$663m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2021).
So, Mainfreight has an ROCE of 16%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 13% generated by the Logistics industry.
Check out our latest analysis for Mainfreight
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Mainfreight 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.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. The company has employed 89% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 16%. 16% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Mainfreight has consistently earned this amount. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.
What We Can Learn From Mainfreight's ROCE
In the end, Mainfreight has proven its ability to adequately reinvest capital at good rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 399% 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.
One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Mainfreight that you might find interesting.
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. 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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