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Do You Know About SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc.’s (NYSE:SITE) ROCE?

Today we are going to look at SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) to see whether it might be an attractive investment prospect. In particular, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that can give us insight into how profitably the company is able to employ capital in its business.

First of all, we'll work out how to calculate ROCE. Second, we'll look at its ROCE compared to similar companies. Finally, we'll look at how its current liabilities affect its ROCE.

What is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

ROCE measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. All else being equal, a better business will have a higher ROCE. In brief, it is a useful tool, but it is not without drawbacks. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'.

So, How Do We Calculate ROCE?

Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed:

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

Or for SiteOne Landscape Supply:

0.093 = US$110m ÷ (US$1.5b - US$357m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2019.)

Therefore, SiteOne Landscape Supply has an ROCE of 9.3%.

View our latest analysis for SiteOne Landscape Supply

Is SiteOne Landscape Supply's ROCE Good?

One way to assess ROCE is to compare similar companies. We can see SiteOne Landscape Supply's ROCE is around the 8.8% average reported by the Trade Distributors industry. Setting aside the industry comparison for now, SiteOne Landscape Supply's ROCE is mediocre in absolute terms, considering the risk of investing in stocks versus the safety of a bank account. It is possible that there are more rewarding investments out there.

You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how SiteOne Landscape Supply's past growth compares to other companies.

NYSE:SITE Past Revenue and Net Income, September 17th 2019
NYSE:SITE Past Revenue and Net Income, September 17th 2019

When considering this metric, keep in mind that it is backwards looking, and not necessarily predictive. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. This is because ROCE only looks at one year, instead of considering returns across a whole cycle. What happens in the future is pretty important for investors, so we have prepared a free report on analyst forecasts for SiteOne Landscape Supply.

Do SiteOne Landscape Supply's Current Liabilities Skew Its ROCE?

Short term (or current) liabilities, are things like supplier invoices, overdrafts, or tax bills that need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way ROCE is calculated, a high level of current liabilities makes a company look as though it has less capital employed, and thus can (sometimes unfairly) boost the ROCE. To check the impact of this, we calculate if a company has high current liabilities relative to its total assets.

SiteOne Landscape Supply has total liabilities of US$357m and total assets of US$1.5b. As a result, its current liabilities are equal to approximately 23% of its total assets. This is a modest level of current liabilities, which would only have a small effect on ROCE.

What We Can Learn From SiteOne Landscape Supply's ROCE

That said, SiteOne Landscape Supply's ROCE is mediocre, there may be more attractive investments around. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.

I will like SiteOne Landscape Supply better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.

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