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. Amongst other things, we’ll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company’s amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Although, when we looked at Hindware Home Innovation (NSE:HINDWAREAP), it didn’t seem to tick all of these boxes.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

If you haven’t worked with ROCE before, it measures the ‘return’ (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Hindware Home Innovation is:

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

0.17 = ₹1.9b ÷ (₹22b – ₹11b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).

Therefore, Hindware Home Innovation has an ROCE of 17%. On its own, that’s a standard return, however it’s much better than the 5.9% generated by the Trade Distributors industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Hindware Home Innovation

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 Hindware Home Innovation’s past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Can We Tell From Hindware Home Innovation’s ROCE Trend?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Hindware Home Innovation, we didn’t gain much confidence. Around four years ago the returns on capital were 33%, but since then they’ve fallen to 17%. 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.

On a related note, Hindware Home Innovation has decreased its current liabilities to 50% of total assets. That could partly explain why the ROCE has dropped. What’s more, this can reduce some aspects of risk to the business because now the company’s suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of its operations. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it’s own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE. Keep in mind 50% is still pretty high, so those risks are still somewhat prevalent.

Our Take On Hindware Home Innovation’s ROCE

While returns have fallen for Hindware Home Innovation in recent times, we’re encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 200% return over the last three years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So should these growth trends continue, we’d be optimistic on the stock going forward.

If you want to know some of the risks facing Hindware Home Innovation we’ve found 2 warning signs (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

While Hindware Home Innovation isn’t earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.