Should We Be Excited About The Trends Of Returns At CompX International (NYSEMKT:CIX)?
What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? 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. In light of that, when we looked at CompX International (NYSEMKT:CIX) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.
Understanding 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. To calculate this metric for CompX International, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.076 = US$13m ÷ (US$181m - US$12m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2020).
So, CompX International has an ROCE of 7.6%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Commercial Services industry average of 11%.
View our latest analysis for CompX International
Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for CompX International's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you're interested in investigating CompX International's past further, check out this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.
The Trend Of ROCE
When we looked at the ROCE trend at CompX International, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 12% over the last five years. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.
In Conclusion...
To conclude, we've found that CompX International is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. And investors may be recognizing these trends since the stock has only returned a total of 32% to shareholders over the last five years. As a result, if you're hunting for a multi-bagger, we think you'd have more luck elsewhere.
One more thing, we've spotted 2 warning signs facing CompX International that you might find interesting.
While CompX International 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.
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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