Yahoo Finance Investors Will Want Stantec's (TSE:STN) Growth In ROCE To Persist
If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. So when we looked at Stantec (TSE:STN) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.
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. The formula for this calculation on Stantec is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.12 = CA$555m ÷ (CA$6.1b - CA$1.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Therefore, Stantec has an ROCE of 12%. That's a pretty standard return and it's in line with the industry average of 12%.
See our latest analysis for Stantec
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Stantec compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Stantec .
What Does the ROCE Trend For Stantec Tell Us?
The trends we've noticed at Stantec are quite reassuring. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 12%. 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 43%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.
Our Take On Stantec's ROCE
In summary, it's great to see that Stantec can compound returns by consistently reinvesting capital at increasing rates of return, because these are some of the key ingredients of those highly sought after multi-baggers. Since the stock has returned a staggering 264% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.
If you'd like to know about the risks facing Stantec, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.
While Stantec isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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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.
