What These Trends Mean At John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:JW.A)
To avoid investing in a business that's in decline, there's a few financial metrics that can provide early indications of aging. A business that's potentially in decline often shows two trends, a return on capital employed (ROCE) that's declining, and a base of capital employed that's also declining. Basically the company is earning less on its investments and it is also reducing its total assets. In light of that, from a first glance at John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:JW.A), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for John Wiley & Sons, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.089 = US$209m ÷ (US$3.1b - US$716m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2020).
So, John Wiley & Sons has an ROCE of 8.9%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Media industry average of 9.6%.
Check out our latest analysis for John Wiley & Sons
In the above chart we have measured John Wiley & Sons' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering John Wiley & Sons here for free.
What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us
There is reason to be cautious about John Wiley & Sons, given the returns are trending downwards. About five years ago, returns on capital were 11%, however they're now substantially lower than that as we saw above. And on the capital employed front, the business is utilizing roughly the same amount of capital as it was back then. This combination can be indicative of a mature business that still has areas to deploy capital, but the returns received aren't as high due potentially to new competition or smaller margins. So because these trends aren't typically conducive to creating a multi-bagger, we wouldn't hold our breath on John Wiley & Sons becoming one if things continue as they have.
In Conclusion...
All in all, the lower returns from the same amount of capital employed aren't exactly signs of a compounding machine. It should come as no surprise then that the stock has fallen 11% over the last five years, so it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. That being the case, unless the underlying trends revert to a more positive trajectory, we'd consider looking elsewhere.
If you'd like to know more about John Wiley & Sons, we've spotted 2 warning signs, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.
While John Wiley & Sons isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.
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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