There are a few key trends to look for if we want to identify the next multi-bagger. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding 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. That's why when we briefly looked at Quest Diagnostics' (NYSE:DGX) ROCE trend, we were pretty happy with what we saw.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. To calculate this metric for Quest Diagnostics, this is the formula:

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

0.11 = US$1.3b ÷ (US$14b - US$1.8b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

So, Quest Diagnostics has an ROCE of 11%. That's a relatively normal return on capital, and it's around the 10% generated by the Healthcare industry.

See our latest analysis for Quest Diagnostics

In the above chart we have measured Quest Diagnostics' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Quest Diagnostics .

What Can We Tell From Quest Diagnostics' ROCE Trend?

While the returns on capital are good, they haven't moved much. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 11% and the business has deployed 28% more capital into its operations. 11% is a pretty standard return, and it provides some comfort knowing that Quest Diagnostics has consistently earned this amount. Stable returns in this ballpark can be unexciting, but if they can be maintained over the long run, they often provide nice rewards to shareholders.

The Key Takeaway

The main thing to remember is that Quest Diagnostics has proven its ability to continually reinvest at respectable rates of return. Therefore it's no surprise that shareholders have earned a respectable 62% return if they held over the last five years. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

Quest Diagnostics does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Quest Diagnostics that you might be interested in.