Yahoo Finance We're Watching These Trends At Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)
What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. That's why when we briefly looked at Sonoco Products' (NYSE:SON) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.
What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?
For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Sonoco Products:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.12 = US$510m ÷ (US$5.7b - US$1.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2020).
Therefore, Sonoco Products has an ROCE of 12%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Packaging industry average of 9.4% it's much better.
Check out our latest analysis for Sonoco Products
In the above chart we have measured Sonoco Products' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. 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 returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 12% and the business has deployed 29% more capital into its operations. Since 12% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. 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.
Our Take On Sonoco Products' ROCE
In the end, Sonoco Products has proven its ability to adequately reinvest capital at good rates of return. And the stock has followed suit returning a meaningful 60% to shareholders over the last five years. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.
On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Sonoco Products you'll probably want to know about.
For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high 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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