Dollar General Earnings Perspective: Return On Invested Capital

Pulled from Benzinga Pro data, Dollar General DG showed a loss in earnings since Q2, totaling $526.17 million. Sales, on the other hand, increased by 0.41% to $9.46 billion during Q3. Dollar General reached earnings of $678.03 million and sales of $9.43 billion in Q2.

What Is Return On Invested Capital?

Return on Invested Capital is a measure of yearly pre-tax profit relative to capital invested by a business. Changes in earnings and sales indicate shifts in a company's ROIC. A higher ROIC is generally representative of successful growth of a company and is a sign of higher earnings per share in the future. A low or negative ROIC suggests the opposite. In Q3, Dollar General posted an ROIC of 8.03%.

Keep in mind, while ROIC is a good measure of a company's recent performance, it is not a highly reliable predictor of a company's earnings or sales in the near future.

ROIC is a powerful metric for comparing the effectiveness of capital allocation for similar companies. A relatively high ROIC shows Dollar General is potentially operating at a higher level of efficiency than other companies in its industry. If the company is generating high profits with its current level of invested capital, some of that money can be reinvested in more capital which will generally lead to higher returns and, ultimately, earnings per share (EPS) growth.

For Dollar General, the positive return on invested capital ratio of 8.03% suggests that management is allocating their capital effectively. Effective capital allocation is a positive indicator that a company will achieve more durable success and favorable long-term returns.