If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. 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. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think Kelly Partners Group Holdings (ASX:KPG) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Kelly Partners Group Holdings:

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

0.15 = AU$18m ÷ (AU$154m - AU$37m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

Thus, Kelly Partners Group Holdings has an ROCE of 15%. That's a pretty standard return and it's in line with the industry average of 15%.

View our latest analysis for Kelly Partners Group Holdings

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 Kelly Partners Group Holdings.

What Can We Tell From Kelly Partners Group Holdings' ROCE Trend?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Kelly Partners Group Holdings, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 32% over the last five years. However, given capital employed and revenue have both increased it appears that the business is currently pursuing growth, at the consequence of short term returns. And if the increased capital generates additional returns, the business, and thus shareholders, will benefit in the long run.

The Bottom Line On Kelly Partners Group Holdings' ROCE

Even though returns on capital have fallen in the short term, we find it promising that revenue and capital employed have both increased for Kelly Partners Group Holdings. And long term investors must be optimistic going forward because the stock has returned a huge 872% to shareholders in the last five years. So while the underlying trends could already be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.