Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. In light of that, when we looked at Dana (NYSE:DAN) and its ROCE trend, we weren’t exactly thrilled.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Dana:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets – Current Liabilities)
0.053 = US$290m ÷ (US$8.1b – US$2.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).
Therefore, Dana has an ROCE of 5.3%. In absolute terms, that’s a low return and it also under-performs the Auto Components industry average of 8.7%.
View our latest analysis for Dana
In the above chart we have measured Dana’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 Dana.
The Trend Of ROCE
On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Dana doesn’t inspire confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 5.3% from 13% five years ago. Although, given both revenue and the amount of assets employed in the business have increased, it could suggest the company is investing in growth, and the extra capital has led to a short-term reduction in ROCE. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.
In Conclusion…
Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Dana. These growth trends haven’t led to growth returns though, since the stock has fallen 24% over the last five years. So we think it’d be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the trends look encouraging.
Dana does have some risks, we noticed 3 warning signs (and 1 which doesn’t sit too well with us) we think you should 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.
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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.