Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. Speaking of which, we noticed some great changes in EVE Energy's (SZSE:300014) returns on capital, so let's have a look.

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. The formula for this calculation on EVE Energy is:

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

0.073 = CN¥4.0b ÷ (CN¥93b - CN¥37b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2023).

Thus, EVE Energy has an ROCE of 7.3%. On its own, that's a low figure but it's around the 6.4% average generated by the Electrical industry.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for EVE Energy 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 analyst report for EVE Energy .

What Can We Tell From EVE Energy's ROCE Trend?

While in absolute terms it isn't a high ROCE, it's promising to see that it has been moving in the right direction. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 7.3%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 838% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at EVE Energy thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

Our Take On EVE Energy's ROCE

To sum it up, EVE Energy has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if EVE Energy can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

Before jumping to any conclusions though, we need to know what value we're getting for the current share price. That's where you can check out our FREE intrinsic value estimation for 300014 that compares the share price and estimated value.

While EVE Energy 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.