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. 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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in MYR Group's (NASDAQ:MYRG) returns on capital, so let's have 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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for MYR Group:

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

0.15 = US$125m ÷ (US$1.6b - US$741m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, MYR Group has an ROCE of 15%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.9% generated by the Construction industry.

In the above chart we have measured MYR Group'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 MYR Group .

So How Is MYR Group's ROCE Trending?

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at MYR Group. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 15%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 82% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at MYR Group thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

For the record though, there was a noticeable increase in the company's current liabilities over the period, so we would attribute some of the ROCE growth to that. The current liabilities has increased to 47% of total assets, so the business is now more funded by the likes of its suppliers or short-term creditors. And with current liabilities at those levels, that's pretty high.

The Bottom Line On MYR Group's ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what MYR Group has. And a remarkable 392% total return over the last five years tells us that investors are expecting more good things to come in the future. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

While MYR Group looks impressive, no company is worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic for MYRG helps visualize whether it is currently trading for a fair price.

While MYR Group 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.