To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base 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. So, when we ran our eye over Jack Henry & Associates' (NASDAQ:JKHY) trend of ROCE, we liked what we saw.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?

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 Jack Henry & Associates, this is the formula:

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

0.20 = US$380m ÷ (US$2.3b - US$351m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2020).

Thus, Jack Henry & Associates has an ROCE of 20%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the IT industry average of 11% it's much better.

See our latest analysis for Jack Henry & Associates

In the above chart we have measured Jack Henry & Associates' 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 Jack Henry & Associates here for free.

What Can We Tell From Jack Henry & Associates' ROCE Trend?

While the current returns on capital are decent, they haven't changed much. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 20% and the business has deployed 41% more capital into its operations. 20% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Jack Henry & Associates has consistently earned this amount. Over long periods of time, returns like these might not be too exciting, but with consistency they can pay off in terms of share price returns.

The Bottom Line

To sum it up, Jack Henry & Associates has simply been reinvesting capital steadily, at those decent rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 111% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while investors seem to be recognizing these promising trends, we still believe the stock deserves further research.

While Jack Henry & Associates doesn't shine too bright in this respect, it's still worth seeing if the company is trading at attractive prices. You can find that out with our FREE intrinsic value estimation on our platform.

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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