To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? 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. So when we looked at Aris Water Solutions (NYSE:ARIS) and its trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

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 Aris Water Solutions:

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

0.082 = US$107m ÷ (US$1.4b - US$89m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

Therefore, Aris Water Solutions has an ROCE of 8.2%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Energy Services industry average of 9.7%.

View our latest analysis for Aris Water Solutions

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Aris Water Solutions 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 Aris Water Solutions for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

We're glad to see that ROCE is heading in the right direction, even if it is still low at the moment. The numbers show that in the last four years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 8.2%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 38%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

In Conclusion...

All in all, it's terrific to see that Aris Water Solutions is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last three years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Aris Water Solutions can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

If you want to know some of the risks facing Aris Water Solutions we've found 3 warning signs (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

While Aris Water Solutions may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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