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. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

What Is 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. The formula for this calculation on Coca-Cola Consolidated is:

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

0.26 = US$829m ÷ (US$4.3b - US$1.1b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Coca-Cola Consolidated has an ROCE of 26%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 17% earned by companies in a similar industry.

While the past is not representative of the future, it can be helpful to know how a company has performed historically, which is why we have this chart above. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Coca-Cola Consolidated.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

The trends we've noticed at Coca-Cola Consolidated are quite reassuring. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 26%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 33% more capital is being employed now too. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.

Our Take On Coca-Cola Consolidated's ROCE

To sum it up, Coca-Cola Consolidated has proven it can reinvest in the business and generate higher returns on that capital employed, which is terrific. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. So given the stock has proven it has promising trends, it's worth researching the company further to see if these trends are likely to persist.

One more thing to note, we've identified 1 warning sign with Coca-Cola Consolidated and understanding this should be part of your investment process.

If you'd like to see other companies earning high returns, check out our free list of companies earning high returns with solid balance sheets here.

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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.