Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. In light of that, when we looked at Select Medical Holdings (NYSE:SEM) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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. The formula for this calculation on Select Medical Holdings is:

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

0.08 = US$522m ÷ (US$7.7b - US$1.2b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, Select Medical Holdings has an ROCE of 8.0%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 9.8% average generated by the Healthcare industry.

See our latest analysis for Select Medical Holdings

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Select Medical Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Select Medical Holdings here for free.

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Select Medical Holdings' historical ROCE trend, it doesn't exactly demand attention. The company has consistently earned 8.0% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 23% in that time. Given the company has increased the amount of capital employed, it appears the investments that have been made simply don't provide a high return on capital.

The Bottom Line On Select Medical Holdings' ROCE

Long story short, while Select Medical Holdings has been reinvesting its capital, the returns that it's generating haven't increased. Unsurprisingly, the stock has only gained 17% over the last five years, which potentially indicates that investors are accounting for this going forward. As a result, if you're hunting for a multi-bagger, we think you'd have more luck elsewhere.

Select Medical Holdings does have some risks, we noticed 2 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

While Select Medical Holdings may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list here.

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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.