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. One common approach is to try and find a company with returns on capital employed (ROCE) that are increasing, in conjunction with a growing amount 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. Although, when we looked at Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Ameresco, this is the formula:

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

0.028 = US$73m ÷ (US$3.5b - US$882m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Therefore, Ameresco has an ROCE of 2.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Construction industry average of 9.8%.

Check out our latest analysis for Ameresco

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Ameresco compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

How Are Returns Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Ameresco, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 2.8% from 5.9% five years ago. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. If this were to continue, you might be looking at a company that is trying to reinvest for growth but is actually losing market share since sales haven't increased.

The Bottom Line

In summary, we're somewhat concerned by Ameresco's diminishing returns on increasing amounts of capital. Yet despite these poor fundamentals, the stock has gained a huge 116% over the last five years, so investors appear very optimistic. In any case, the current underlying trends don't bode well for long term performance so unless they reverse, we'd start looking elsewhere.

Ameresco does have some risks, we noticed 4 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

While Ameresco 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.