What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at Grand Canyon Education's (NASDAQ:LOPE) look very promising so lets take a look.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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 Grand Canyon Education:

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

0.32 = US$242m ÷ (US$863m - US$100m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Grand Canyon Education has an ROCE of 32%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 7.8% earned by companies in a similar industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Grand Canyon Education

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Grand Canyon Education 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 Grand Canyon Education here for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

We're pretty happy with how the ROCE has been trending at Grand Canyon Education. We found that the returns on capital employed over the last five years have risen by 32%. That's a very favorable trend because this means that the company is earning more per dollar of capital that's being employed. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 36% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

The Bottom Line On Grand Canyon Education's ROCE

From what we've seen above, Grand Canyon Education has managed to increase it's returns on capital all the while reducing it's capital base. And investors seem to expect more of this going forward, since the stock has rewarded shareholders with a 41% return over the last five years. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

On the other side of ROCE, we have to consider valuation. That's why we have a FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform that is definitely worth checking out.

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.