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Why You Should Care About IMI's (LON:IMI) Strong Returns On Capital

If you're looking for a multi-bagger, there's a few things to keep an eye out for. Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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 IMI's (LON:IMI) trend of ROCE, we really liked what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

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. The formula for this calculation on IMI is:

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

0.20 = UK£294m ÷ (UK£2.2b - UK£728m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2021).

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So, IMI has an ROCE of 20%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 10% earned by companies in a similar industry.

See our latest analysis for IMI

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In the above chart we have measured IMI's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for IMI.

The Trend Of ROCE

We'd be pretty happy with returns on capital like IMI. The company has employed 28% more capital in the last five years, and the returns on that capital have remained stable at 20%. Now considering ROCE is an attractive 20%, this combination is actually pretty appealing because it means the business can consistently put money to work and generate these high returns. You'll see this when looking at well operated businesses or favorable business models.

What We Can Learn From IMI's ROCE

In the end, the company has proven it can reinvest it's capital at high rates of returns, which you'll remember is a trait of a multi-bagger. However, over the last five years, the stock has only delivered a 26% return to shareholders who held over that period. So to determine if IMI is a multi-bagger going forward, we'd suggest digging deeper into the company's other fundamentals.

If you'd like to know about the risks facing IMI, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should be aware of.

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.

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

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.