Yahoo Finance There Are Reasons To Feel Uneasy About Utah Medical Products' (NASDAQ:UTMD) Returns On Capital
Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Utah Medical Products (NASDAQ:UTMD) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Utah Medical Products:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.15 = US$17m ÷ (US$117m - US$4.4m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2021).
Therefore, Utah Medical Products has an ROCE of 15%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Medical Equipment industry average of 8.8% it's much better.
View our latest analysis for Utah Medical Products
While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Utah Medical Products' past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
When we looked at the ROCE trend at Utah Medical Products, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 15% from 22% five years ago. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.
The Bottom Line On Utah Medical Products' ROCE
Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Utah Medical Products' reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Although the market must be expecting these trends to improve because the stock has gained 50% over the last five years. But if the trajectory of these underlying trends continue, we think the likelihood of it being a multi-bagger from here isn't high.
If you want to continue researching Utah Medical Products, 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
