Yahoo Finance Capital Investments At Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) Point To A Promising Future
Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. So, when we ran our eye over Cintas' (NASDAQ:CTAS) trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.
Understanding 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 Cintas, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.28 = US$1.5b ÷ (US$8.2b - US$2.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to February 2022).
Thus, Cintas has an ROCE of 28%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Commercial Services industry average of 7.9%.
See our latest analysis for Cintas
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Cintas 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?
Cintas deserves to be commended in regards to it's returns. The company has consistently earned 28% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 65% in that time. 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.
On another note, while the change in ROCE trend might not scream for attention, it's interesting that the current liabilities have actually gone up over the last five years. This is intriguing because if current liabilities hadn't increased to 32% of total assets, this reported ROCE would probably be less than28% because total capital employed would be higher.The 28% ROCE could be even lower if current liabilities weren't 32% of total assets, because the the formula would show a larger base of total capital employed. So while current liabilities isn't high right now, keep an eye out in case it increases further, because this can introduce some elements of risk.
What We Can Learn From Cintas' ROCE
In short, we'd argue Cintas has the makings of a multi-bagger since its been able to compound its capital at very profitable rates of return. On top of that, the stock has rewarded shareholders with a remarkable 239% return to those who've held over the last five years. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.
If you want to continue researching Cintas, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.
If you want to search for more stocks that have been earning high returns, check out this free list of stocks with solid balance sheets that are also earning high returns on equity.
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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.
