Yahoo Finance Here's What LyondellBasell Industries' (NYSE:LYB) Strong Returns On Capital Mean
If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Ergo, when we looked at the ROCE trends at LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB), we liked what we saw.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?
Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for LyondellBasell Industries, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.21 = US$6.1b ÷ (US$36b - US$7.6b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2022).
Thus, LyondellBasell Industries has an ROCE of 21%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Chemicals industry average of 12%.
Check out our latest analysis for LyondellBasell Industries
In the above chart we have measured LyondellBasell Industries' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
What Can We Tell From LyondellBasell Industries' ROCE Trend?
It's hard not to be impressed by LyondellBasell Industries' returns on capital. The company has consistently earned 21% for the last five years, and the capital employed within the business has risen 40% in that time. Returns like this are the envy of most businesses and given it has repeatedly reinvested at these rates, that's even better. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.
The Bottom Line
LyondellBasell Industries has demonstrated its proficiency by generating high returns on increasing amounts of capital employed, which we're thrilled about. In light of this, the stock has only gained 19% over the last five years for shareholders who have owned the stock in this period. That's why it could be worth your time looking into this stock further to discover if it has more traits of a multi-bagger.
LyondellBasell Industries does have some risks, we noticed 5 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.
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.
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