If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Wiseway Group's (ASX:WWG) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Wiseway Group, this is the formula:

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

0.069 = AU$2.5m ÷ (AU$64m - AU$28m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

So, Wiseway Group has an ROCE of 6.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Logistics industry average of 9.4%.

See our latest analysis for Wiseway Group

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Wiseway Group's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating Wiseway Group's past further, check out this free graph covering Wiseway Group's past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

So How Is Wiseway Group's ROCE Trending?

Wiseway Group's ROCE growth is quite impressive. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 1,584% over the last five years. 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. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.

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. The current liabilities has increased to 43% of total assets, so the business is now more funded by the likes of its suppliers or short-term creditors. And with current liabilities at those levels, that's pretty high.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're delighted to see that Wiseway Group has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. And since the stock has fallen 33% over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here. So researching this company further and determining whether or not these trends will continue seems justified.

On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for Wiseway Group that we think you should be aware of.

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.