If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. So, when we ran our eye over GeoPark's (NYSE:GPRK) trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for GeoPark:

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

0.36 = US$284m ÷ (US$1.0b - US$231m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Therefore, GeoPark has an ROCE of 36%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 15% earned by companies in a similar industry.

In the above chart we have measured GeoPark's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for GeoPark .

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

GeoPark deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 36% and the business has deployed 22% more capital into its operations. Now considering ROCE is an attractive 36%, this combination is actually pretty appealing because it means the business can consistently put money to work and generate these high returns. If GeoPark can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

In Conclusion...

GeoPark has demonstrated its proficiency by generating high returns on increasing amounts of capital employed, which we're thrilled about. Yet over the last five years the stock has declined 44%, so the decline might provide an opening. That's why we think it'd be worthwhile to look further into this stock given the fundamentals are appealing.

On a final note, we've found 3 warning signs for GeoPark that we think you should be aware of.

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets 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.