If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. This shows us that it's a compounding machine, able to continually reinvest its earnings back into the business and generate higher returns. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Jupiter Energy (ASX:JPR) so let's look a bit deeper.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

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. The formula for this calculation on Jupiter Energy is:

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

0.13 = AU$3.0m ÷ (AU$25m - AU$2.1m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2024).

Therefore, Jupiter Energy has an ROCE of 13%. In absolute terms, that's a satisfactory return, but compared to the Oil and Gas industry average of 9.1% it's much better.

View our latest analysis for Jupiter Energy

Historical performance is a great place to start when researching a stock so above you can see the gauge for Jupiter Energy's ROCE against it's prior returns. If you want to delve into the historical earnings , check out these free graphs detailing revenue and cash flow performance of Jupiter Energy.

How Are Returns Trending?

Jupiter Energy has not disappointed in regards to ROCE growth. We found that the returns on capital employed over the last five years have risen by 209%. The company is now earning AU$0.1 per dollar of capital employed. Interestingly, the business may be becoming more efficient because it's applying 55% less capital than it was five years ago. If this trend continues, the business might be getting more efficient but it's shrinking in terms of total assets.

The Bottom Line

In summary, it's great to see that Jupiter Energy has been able to turn things around and earn higher returns on lower amounts of capital. And with the stock having performed exceptionally well over the last five years, these patterns are being accounted for by investors. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

Jupiter Energy does have some risks, we noticed 5 warning signs (and 2 which are a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

While Jupiter Energy isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.