Nordic American Tankers' (NYSE:NAT) Returns On Capital Are Heading Higher
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. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Nordic American Tankers' (NYSE:NAT) returns on capital, so let's have a look.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?
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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Nordic American Tankers:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.19 = US$141m ÷ (US$836m - US$73m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).
So, Nordic American Tankers has an ROCE of 19%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Oil and Gas industry average of 15% it's much better.
Check out our latest analysis for Nordic American Tankers
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Nordic American Tankers compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free analyst report for Nordic American Tankers .
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
Like most people, we're pleased that Nordic American Tankers is now generating some pretax earnings. While the business is profitable now, it used to be incurring losses on invested capital five years ago. Additionally, the business is utilizing 27% less capital than it was five years ago, and taken at face value, that can mean the company needs less funds at work to get a return. Nordic American Tankers could be selling under-performing assets since the ROCE is improving.
The Bottom Line
In a nutshell, we're pleased to see that Nordic American Tankers has been able to generate higher returns from less capital. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.
If you want to continue researching Nordic American Tankers, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.
While Nordic American Tankers 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.
