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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So, when we ran our eye over Steel Dynamics' (NASDAQ:STLD) trend of ROCE, we liked what we saw.

Understanding 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 Steel Dynamics is:

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

0.17 = US$2.2b ÷ (US$16b - US$2.7b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

So, Steel Dynamics has an ROCE of 17%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Metals and Mining industry average of 9.9% it's much better.

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Steel Dynamics 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 Steel Dynamics .

So How Is Steel Dynamics' ROCE Trending?

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. The company has consistently earned 17% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 87% in that time. Since 17% is a moderate ROCE though, it's good to see a business can continue to reinvest at these decent rates of return. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

In Conclusion...

The main thing to remember is that Steel Dynamics has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. On top of that, the stock has rewarded shareholders with a remarkable 396% return to those who've held over the last five years. So even though the stock might be more "expensive" than it was before, we think the strong fundamentals warrant this stock for further research.

If you're still interested in Steel Dynamics it's worth checking out our FREE intrinsic value approximation for STLD to see if it's trading at an attractive price in other respects.

While Steel Dynamics 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.