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. 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. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. Having said that, from a first glance at GWA Group (ASX:GWA) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

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 GWA Group, this is the formula:

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

0.12 = AU$70m ÷ (AU$680m - AU$106m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

So, GWA Group has an ROCE of 12%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 11% generated by the Building industry.

See our latest analysis for GWA Group

Above you can see how the current ROCE for GWA Group compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering GWA Group here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of GWA Group's historical ROCE movements, the trend isn't fantastic. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 16% over the last five years. However it looks like GWA Group might be reinvesting for long term growth because while capital employed has increased, the company's sales haven't changed much in the last 12 months. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

What We Can Learn From GWA Group's ROCE

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by GWA Group's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Since the stock has declined 16% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. All in all, the inherent trends aren't typical of multi-baggers, so if that's what you're after, we think you might have more luck elsewhere.

If you want to continue researching GWA Group, you might be interested to know about the 1 warning sign that our analysis has discovered.

While GWA Group 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.