If we want to find a stock that could multiply over the long term, what are the underlying trends we should look 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. 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 looked at the ROCE trend of AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) we really liked what we saw.

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 AGCO:

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

0.24 = US$1.7b ÷ (US$11b - US$4.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Therefore, AGCO has an ROCE of 24%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 13% earned by companies in a similar industry.

In the above chart we have measured AGCO'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 AGCO for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

AGCO is displaying some positive trends. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 24%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 46%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at AGCO thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

The Bottom Line On AGCO's ROCE

To sum it up, AGCO has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And with a respectable 94% awarded to those who held the stock over the last five years, you could argue that these developments are starting to get the attention they deserve. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

On a separate note, we've found 1 warning sign for AGCO you'll probably want to know about.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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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.