Yahoo Finance The Return Trends At Dril-Quip (NYSE:DRQ) Look Promising
What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount 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. So on that note, Dril-Quip (NYSE:DRQ) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.
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 Dril-Quip, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.0015 = US$1.4m ÷ (US$1.0b - US$118m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).
Therefore, Dril-Quip has an ROCE of 0.2%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Energy Services industry average of 12%.
Check out our latest analysis for Dril-Quip
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Dril-Quip compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Dril-Quip .
How Are Returns Trending?
We're delighted to see that Dril-Quip is reaping rewards from its investments and has now broken into profitability. The company was generating losses five years ago, but has managed to turn it around and as we saw earlier is now earning 0.2%, which is always encouraging. On top of that, what's interesting is that the amount of capital being employed has remained steady, so the business hasn't needed to put any additional money to work to generate these higher returns. That being said, while an increase in efficiency is no doubt appealing, it'd be helpful to know if the company does have any investment plans going forward. After all, a company can only become a long term multi-bagger if it continually reinvests in itself at high rates of return.
Our Take On Dril-Quip's ROCE
As discussed above, Dril-Quip appears to be getting more proficient at generating returns since capital employed has remained flat but earnings (before interest and tax) are up. And since the stock has fallen 57% over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here. With that in mind, we believe the promising trends warrant this stock for further investigation.
On the other side of ROCE, we have to consider valuation. That's why we have a FREE intrinsic value estimation for DRQ on our platform that is definitely worth checking out.
While Dril-Quip may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.
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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.
