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. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Ergo, when we looked at the ROCE trends at Brady (NYSE:BRC), we liked what we saw.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Brady is:

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

0.21 = US$234m ÷ (US$1.4b - US$252m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2023).

So, Brady has an ROCE of 21%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Commercial Services industry average of 9.1%.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Brady compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Brady .

What Can We Tell From Brady's ROCE Trend?

Brady deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 21% and the business has deployed 27% more capital into its operations. With returns that high, it's great that the business can continually reinvest its money at such appealing rates of return. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.

The Bottom Line On Brady's ROCE

In the end, the company has proven it can reinvest it's capital at high rates of returns, which you'll remember is a trait of a multi-bagger. And given the stock has only risen 37% over the last five years, we'd suspect the market is beginning to recognize these trends. So because of the trends we're seeing, we'd recommend looking further into this stock to see if it has the makings of a multi-bagger.

On the other side of ROCE, we have to consider valuation. That's why we have a FREE intrinsic value estimation for BRC on our platform that is definitely worth checking out.

Brady is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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.