What trends should we look for it we want to identify stocks that can multiply in value over the long term? Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So on that note, Luceco (LON:LUCE) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.

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

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. The formula for this calculation on Luceco is:

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

0.18 = UK￡22m ÷ (UK￡177m - UK￡51m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Luceco has an ROCE of 18%. On its own, that's a standard return, however it's much better than the 9.8% generated by the Electrical industry.

See our latest analysis for Luceco

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Luceco compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Luceco .

So How Is Luceco's ROCE Trending?

Investors would be pleased with what's happening at Luceco. The data shows that returns on capital have increased substantially over the last five years to 18%. Basically the business is earning more per dollar of capital invested and in addition to that, 101% more capital is being employed now too. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Luceco thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

In another part of our analysis, we noticed that the company's ratio of current liabilities to total assets decreased to 29%, which broadly means the business is relying less on its suppliers or short-term creditors to fund its operations. So shareholders would be pleased that the growth in returns has mostly come from underlying business performance.

The Bottom Line

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 Luceco has. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. Therefore, we think it would be worth your time to check if these trends are going to continue.