To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing 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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Mosaic’s (NYSE:MOS) returns on capital, so let’s have a look.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
If you haven’t worked with ROCE before, it measures the ‘return’ (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Mosaic:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets – Current Liabilities)
0.25 = US$4.7b ÷ (US$24b – US$5.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).
Therefore, Mosaic has an ROCE of 25%. In absolute terms that’s a great return and it’s even better than the Chemicals industry average of 12%.
Check out our latest analysis for Mosaic
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Mosaic 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 Mosaic.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
Mosaic is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 945% in that same time. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. On that front, things are looking good so it’s worth exploring what management has said about growth plans going forward.
For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company’s current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. Effectively this means that suppliers or short-term creditors are now funding 23% of the business, which is more than it was five years ago. It’s worth keeping an eye on this because as the percentage of current liabilities to total assets increases, some aspects of risk also increase.
In Conclusion…
In summary, we’re delighted to see that Mosaic has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. And a remarkable 139% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.
If you’d like to know about the risks facing Mosaic, we’ve discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.
If you’d like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets 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.
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Read More: Returns on Capital Paint A Bright Future For Mosaic (NYSE:MOS)