The Trend Of High Returns At SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE:SEAS) Has Us Very Interested
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. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at SeaWorld Entertainment's (NYSE:SEAS) look very promising so lets take a look.
What is 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. To calculate this metric for SeaWorld Entertainment, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.23 = US$485m ÷ (US$2.6b - US$459m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).
Thus, SeaWorld Entertainment has an ROCE of 23%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Hospitality industry average of 9.7%.
Check out our latest analysis for SeaWorld Entertainment
In the above chart we have measured SeaWorld Entertainment's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
What Can We Tell From SeaWorld Entertainment's ROCE Trend?
SeaWorld Entertainment has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. More specifically, while the company has kept capital employed relatively flat over the last five years, the ROCE has climbed 311% in that same time. So our take on this is that the business has increased efficiencies to generate these higher returns, all the while not needing to make any additional investments. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.
The Key Takeaway
In summary, we're delighted to see that SeaWorld Entertainment has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. Since the stock has returned a staggering 209% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if SeaWorld Entertainment can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.
On a separate note, we've found 4 warning signs for SeaWorld Entertainment you'll probably want to know about.
SeaWorld Entertainment is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.
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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.
