Yahoo Finance Returns On Capital At Rotork (LON:ROR) Have Stalled
If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's 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. In light of that, when we looked at Rotork (LON:ROR) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?
Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Rotork:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.18 = UK£104m ÷ (UK£700m - UK£120m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
Therefore, Rotork has an ROCE of 18%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 11% generated by the Machinery industry.
Check out our latest analysis for Rotork
In the above chart we have measured Rotork's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Rotork.
How Are Returns Trending?
Over the past five years, Rotork's ROCE and capital employed have both remained mostly flat. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. So don't be surprised if Rotork doesn't end up being a multi-bagger in a few years time. This probably explains why Rotork is paying out 52% of its income to shareholders in the form of dividends. Unless businesses have highly compelling growth opportunities, they'll typically return some money to shareholders.
The Key Takeaway
We can conclude that in regards to Rotork's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. And investors may be recognizing these trends since the stock has only returned a total of 17% to shareholders over the last five years. Therefore, if you're looking for a multi-bagger, we'd propose looking at other options.
One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Rotork that you might find interesting.
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.
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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.
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