Yahoo Finance Is Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG) Creating Value For Shareholders?
Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!
Today we are going to look at Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. In particular, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that can give us insight into how profitably the company is able to employ capital in its business.
Firstly, we'll go over how we calculate ROCE. Then we'll compare its ROCE to similar companies. Finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities affect its ROCE.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
ROCE measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. All else being equal, a better business will have a higher ROCE. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Author Edwin Whiting says to be careful when comparing the ROCE of different businesses, since 'No two businesses are exactly alike.'
How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed?
Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
Or for Entegris:
0.14 = US$304m ÷ (US$2.3b - US$213m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.)
So, Entegris has an ROCE of 14%.
Check out our latest analysis for Entegris
Is Entegris's ROCE Good?
ROCE can be useful when making comparisons, such as between similar companies. We can see Entegris's ROCE is around the 13% average reported by the Semiconductor industry. Regardless of where Entegris sits next to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears satisfactory, and this company could be worth a closer look.
As we can see, Entegris currently has an ROCE of 14% compared to its ROCE 3 years ago, which was 8.7%. This makes us think about whether the company has been reinvesting shrewdly.
When considering ROCE, bear in mind that it reflects the past and does not necessarily predict the future. ROCE can be misleading for companies in cyclical industries, with returns looking impressive during the boom times, but very weak during the busts. This is because ROCE only looks at one year, instead of considering returns across a whole cycle. Future performance is what matters, and you can see analyst predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
Do Entegris's Current Liabilities Skew Its ROCE?
Liabilities, such as supplier bills and bank overdrafts, are referred to as current liabilities if they need to be paid within 12 months. The ROCE equation subtracts current liabilities from capital employed, so a company with a lot of current liabilities appears to have less capital employed, and a higher ROCE than otherwise. To counter this, investors can check if a company has high current liabilities relative to total assets.
Entegris has total liabilities of US$213m and total assets of US$2.3b. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 9.2% of its total assets. In addition to low current liabilities (making a negligible impact on ROCE), Entegris earns a sound return on capital employed.
What We Can Learn From Entegris's ROCE
This is good to see, and while better prospects may exist, Entegris seems worth researching further. Entegris shapes up well under this analysis, but it is far from the only business delivering excellent numbers . You might also want to check this free collection of companies delivering excellent earnings growth.
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
