Will The ROCE Trend At Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) Continue?
If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding 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. So on that note, Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.
What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?
Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Alico is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.091 = US$41m ÷ (US$472m - US$24m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2020).
Therefore, Alico has an ROCE of 9.1%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 8.4% average generated by the Food industry.
See our latest analysis for Alico
While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you're interested in investigating Alico's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
The Trend Of ROCE
Alico is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 132% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company's efficiencies. It's worth looking deeper into this though because while it's great that the business is more efficient, it might also mean that going forward the areas to invest internally for the organic growth are lacking.
The Key Takeaway
To bring it all together, Alico has done well to increase the returns it's generating from its capital employed. Astute investors may have an opportunity here because the stock has declined 24% in the last five years. With that in mind, we believe the promising trends warrant this stock for further investigation.
On a separate note, we've found 2 warning signs for Alico you'll probably want to 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.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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