Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. In light of that, when we looked at JELD-WEN Holding (NYSE:JELD) and its ROCE trend, we weren't exactly thrilled.

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

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for JELD-WEN Holding, this is the formula:

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

0.082 = US$221m ÷ (US$3.5b - US$857m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2023).

Therefore, JELD-WEN Holding has an ROCE of 8.2%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Building industry average of 15%.

Check out our latest analysis for JELD-WEN Holding

In the above chart we have measured JELD-WEN Holding's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

So How Is JELD-WEN Holding's ROCE Trending?

Things have been pretty stable at JELD-WEN Holding, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. Businesses with these traits tend to be mature and steady operations because they're past the growth phase. So don't be surprised if JELD-WEN Holding doesn't end up being a multi-bagger in a few years time.

The Bottom Line

We can conclude that in regards to JELD-WEN Holding's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. And in the last five years, the stock has given away 41% so the market doesn't look too hopeful on these trends strengthening any time soon. On the whole, we aren't too inspired by the underlying trends and we think there may be better chances of finding a multi-bagger elsewhere.

On a final note, we found 3 warning signs for JELD-WEN Holding (1 is a bit concerning) you should be aware of.

While JELD-WEN Holding 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.