If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to 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. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in Matson's (NYSE:MATX) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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. The formula for this calculation on Matson is:

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

0.099 = US$369m ÷ (US$4.3b - US$571m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, Matson has an ROCE of 9.9%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 8.9% average generated by the Shipping industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Matson

In the above chart we have measured Matson's 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 report for Matson.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

We're glad to see that ROCE is heading in the right direction, even if it is still low at the moment. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 9.9%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 78%. This can indicate that there's plenty of opportunities to invest capital internally and at ever higher rates, a combination that's common among multi-baggers.

In Conclusion...

All in all, it's terrific to see that Matson is reaping the rewards from prior investments and is growing its capital base. Since the stock has returned a staggering 273% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.

Matson does have some risks, we noticed 3 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

While Matson 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.