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. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Dun & Bradstreet Holdings (NYSE:DNB) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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 Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, this is the formula:

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

0.023 = US$180m ÷ (US$9.0b - US$987m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

Therefore, Dun & Bradstreet Holdings has an ROCE of 2.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Professional Services industry average of 14%.

In the above chart we have measured Dun & Bradstreet Holdings' 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 Dun & Bradstreet Holdings .

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of Dun & Bradstreet Holdings' historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 2.3% from 5.1% five years ago. Meanwhile, the business is utilizing more capital but this hasn't moved the needle much in terms of sales in the past 12 months, so this could reflect longer term investments. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a side note, Dun & Bradstreet Holdings has done well to pay down its current liabilities to 11% of total assets. So we could link some of this to the decrease in ROCE. Effectively this means their suppliers or short-term creditors are funding less of the business, which reduces some elements of risk. Since the business is basically funding more of its operations with it's own money, you could argue this has made the business less efficient at generating ROCE.

What We Can Learn From Dun & Bradstreet Holdings' ROCE

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Dun & Bradstreet Holdings' reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Since the stock has declined 53% over the last three years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. Therefore based on the analysis done in this article, we don't think Dun & Bradstreet Holdings has the makings of a multi-bagger.

One final note, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Dun & Bradstreet Holdings (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) .

While Dun & Bradstreet Holdings isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are 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.