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Some Investors May Be Worried About Cass Information Systems' (NASDAQ:CASS) Returns On Capital

Simply Wall St
·3 min read

Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. However, after investigating Cass Information Systems (NASDAQ:CASS), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Cass Information Systems:

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

0.039 = US$35m ÷ (US$2.3b - US$1.4b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2021).

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Thus, Cass Information Systems has an ROCE of 3.9%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the IT industry average of 12%.

View our latest analysis for Cass Information Systems

roce
roce

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Cass Information Systems' ROCE against it's prior returns. If you'd like to look at how Cass Information Systems has performed in the past in other metrics, you can view this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Cass Information Systems Tell Us?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at Cass Information Systems doesn't inspire confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 4.8% over the last five years. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

Another thing to note, Cass Information Systems has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 60%. This effectively means that suppliers (or short-term creditors) are funding a large portion of the business, so just be aware that this can introduce some elements of risk. Ideally we'd like to see this reduce as that would mean fewer obligations bearing risks.

What We Can Learn From Cass Information Systems' ROCE

In summary, Cass Information Systems is reinvesting funds back into the business for growth but unfortunately it looks like sales haven't increased much just yet. And with the stock having returned a mere 13% in the last five years to shareholders, you could argue that they're aware of these lackluster trends. So if you're looking for a multi-bagger, the underlying trends indicate you may have better chances elsewhere.

While Cass Information Systems doesn't shine too bright in this respect, it's still worth seeing if the company is trading at attractive prices. You can find that out with our FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.