Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. That's why when we briefly looked at Reliance Worldwide's (ASX:RWC) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for Reliance Worldwide, this is the formula:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.11 = US$204m ÷ (US$2.1b - US$210m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Therefore, Reliance Worldwide has an ROCE of 11%. In absolute terms, that's a pretty normal return, and it's somewhat close to the Building industry average of 10%.

View our latest analysis for Reliance Worldwide

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Reliance Worldwide compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Reliance Worldwide for free.

So How Is Reliance Worldwide's ROCE Trending?

The trend of ROCE doesn't stand out much, but returns on a whole are decent. The company has employed 43% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 11%. 11% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Reliance Worldwide has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

The Key Takeaway

To sum it up, Reliance Worldwide has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent rates of return. And since the stock has risen strongly over the last five years, it appears the market might expect this trend to continue. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

While Reliance Worldwide doesn't shine too bright in this respect, it's still worth seeing if the company is trading at attractive prices. You can find that out with our FREE intrinsic value estimation for RWC on our platform.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.