Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. However, after briefly looking over the numbers, we don't think WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) has the makings of a multi-bagger going forward, but let's have a look at why that may be.

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. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for WEC Energy Group:

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

0.053 = US$1.9b ÷ (US$39b - US$3.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2022).

So, WEC Energy Group has an ROCE of 5.3%. Even though it's in line with the industry average of 4.7%, it's still a low return by itself.

Check out our latest analysis for WEC Energy Group

Above you can see how the current ROCE for WEC Energy Group compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering WEC Energy Group here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

In terms of WEC Energy Group's historical ROCE trend, it doesn't exactly demand attention. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 5.3% and the business has deployed 28% more capital into its operations. This poor ROCE doesn't inspire confidence right now, and with the increase in capital employed, it's evident that the business isn't deploying the funds into high return investments.

The Bottom Line On WEC Energy Group's ROCE

As we've seen above, WEC Energy Group's returns on capital haven't increased but it is reinvesting in the business. Since the stock has gained an impressive 93% over the last five years, investors must think there's better things to come. However, unless these underlying trends turn more positive, we wouldn't get our hopes up too high.

WEC Energy Group does have some risks, we noticed 2 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

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

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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.