To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? 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. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. Having said that, from a first glance at Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Kraft Heinz is:

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

0.068 = US$5.5b ÷ (US$89b - US$7.5b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Thus, Kraft Heinz has an ROCE of 6.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Food industry average of 11%.

In the above chart we have measured Kraft Heinz's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Kraft Heinz for free.

What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us

Things have been pretty stable at Kraft Heinz, with its capital employed and returns on that capital staying somewhat the same for the last five years. It's not uncommon to see this when looking at a mature and stable business that isn't re-investing its earnings because it has likely passed that phase of the business cycle. With that in mind, unless investment picks up again in the future, we wouldn't expect Kraft Heinz to be a multi-bagger going forward. With fewer investment opportunities, it makes sense that Kraft Heinz has been paying out a decent 49% of its earnings to shareholders. Unless businesses have highly compelling growth opportunities, they'll typically return some money to shareholders.

The Key Takeaway

We can conclude that in regards to Kraft Heinz's returns on capital employed and the trends, there isn't much change to report on. Since the stock has gained an impressive 65% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. Ultimately, if the underlying trends persist, we wouldn't hold our breath on it being a multi-bagger going forward.

If you want to continue researching Kraft Heinz, you might be interested to know about the 3 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

While Kraft Heinz may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list 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.