What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. With that in mind, the ROCE of Installed Building Products (NYSE:IBP) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for Installed Building Products, this is the formula:

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

0.23 = US$382m ÷ (US$2.0b - US$340m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2024).

So, Installed Building Products has an ROCE of 23%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Consumer Durables industry average of 15%.

In the above chart we have measured Installed Building Products' 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 analyst report for Installed Building Products .

How Are Returns Trending?

The trends we've noticed at Installed Building Products are quite reassuring. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 23%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 139%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Installed Building Products thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

What We Can Learn From Installed Building Products' ROCE

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Installed Building Products has. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Installed Building Products can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.

If you want to continue researching Installed Building Products, you might be interested to know about the 2 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks 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.