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If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look for? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing 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. So when we looked at Enterprise Group (TSE:E) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.
Understanding 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. To calculate this metric for Enterprise Group, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.033 = CA$1.5m ÷ (CA$50m - CA$2.7m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
Thus, Enterprise Group has an ROCE of 3.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Trade Distributors industry average of 19%.
Check out our latest analysis for Enterprise Group
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Enterprise Group 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 report for Enterprise Group.
What Does the ROCE Trend For Enterprise Group Tell Us?
We're delighted to see that Enterprise Group is reaping rewards from its investments and has now broken into profitability. While the business is profitable now, it used to be incurring losses on invested capital five years ago. In regards to capital employed, Enterprise Group is using 40% less capital than it was five years ago, which on the surface, can indicate that the business has become more efficient at generating these returns. This could potentially mean that the company is selling some of its assets.
In Conclusion...
From what we've seen above, Enterprise Group has managed to increase it's returns on capital all the while reducing it's capital base. Investors may not be impressed by the favorable underlying trends yet because over the last five years the stock has only returned 28% to shareholders. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.
On a separate note, we've found 4 warning signs for Enterprise Group you'll probably want to know about.
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.