If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to 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. 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 Lindsay's (NYSE:LNN) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Lindsay, this is the formula:

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

0.16 = US$98m ÷ (US$764m - US$142m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to November 2023).

Therefore, Lindsay has an ROCE of 16%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 13% generated by the Machinery industry.

In the above chart we have measured Lindsay's 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 Lindsay for free.

The Trend Of ROCE

The trends we've noticed at Lindsay are quite reassuring. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 16%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 48%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Lindsay thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

What We Can Learn From Lindsay's ROCE

To sum it up, Lindsay has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. Considering the stock has delivered 28% to its stockholders over the last five years, it may be fair to think that investors aren't fully aware of the promising trends yet. Given that, we'd look further into this stock in case it has more traits that could make it multiply in the long term.

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

While Lindsay 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.