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If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base 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. However, after investigating DICK'S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.
What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?
For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for DICK'S Sporting Goods, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.18 = US$916m ÷ (US$7.8b - US$2.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to January 2021).
Therefore, DICK'S Sporting Goods has an ROCE of 18%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 14% generated by the Specialty Retail industry.
View our latest analysis for DICK'S Sporting Goods
In the above chart we have measured DICK'S Sporting Goods' 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.
The Trend Of ROCE
On the surface, the trend of ROCE at DICK'S Sporting Goods doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 23% over the last five years. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.
The Bottom Line
In summary, DICK'S Sporting Goods is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. Investors must think there's better things to come because the stock has knocked it out of the park, delivering a 118% gain to shareholders who have held over the last five years. Ultimately, if the underlying trends persist, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger going forward.
DICK'S Sporting Goods does come with some risks though, we found 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...