LCI Industries (NYSE:LCII) Will Want To Turn Around Its Return Trends
If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount 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 while LCI Industries (NYSE:LCII) has a high ROCE right now, lets see what we can decipher from how returns are changing.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
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. To calculate this metric for LCI Industries, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.20 = US$570m ÷ (US$3.6b - US$741m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).
So, LCI Industries has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Auto Components industry average of 9.0%.
See our latest analysis for LCI Industries
Above you can see how the current ROCE for LCI Industries compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for LCI Industries.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
On the surface, the trend of ROCE at LCI Industries doesn't inspire confidence. While it's comforting that the ROCE is high, five years ago it was 30%. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. If these investments prove successful, this can bode very well for long term stock performance.
The Bottom Line
While returns have fallen for LCI Industries in recent times, we're encouraged to see that sales are growing and that the business is reinvesting in its operations. These trends are starting to be recognized by investors since the stock has delivered a 38% gain to shareholders who've held over the last five years. Therefore we'd recommend looking further into this stock to confirm if it has the makings of a good investment.
Since virtually every company faces some risks, it's worth knowing what they are, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for LCI Industries (of which 3 make us uncomfortable!) that you should know about.
High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks 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.
