The Most Important Ratio In Value Investing

By: MartinSejas

The fourth part of this series deals with the debt/equity ratio, which is another key component of Warren Buffett's legendary methodology. In fact, it is a component that the man himself treats very carefully when deciding which stocks to invest in. Just like the return on equity in the previous part of this series, it is an equation that is commonly used in finance, however, Buffett is the one who makes the most and greatest use of it.

The debt/equity ratio is made up of 2 obvious parts and it's almost certain that everyone has come across the term some time in their lives, whether it be at school or at another educational institutions. However, some people may not be too familiar with the term, which is why I will now explain it. The debt/equity ratio is equal to total liabilities being divided by shareholders' equity.

Both of these are freely available on a company's balance sheet (sometimes called the statement of financial position). Taking these numbers from these reports is known as taking its 'book value'. On the other hand, if the debt and equity of the interested company are traded publicly, you have the option of using the market value instead. In addition, you may also choose to use a mixture of both the book and market value.

The ratio illustrates the proportion of debt and equity the company is utilising to support its assets. If a ratio is high, this corresponds to a situation where debt is mainly shoring up the company. The principal dilemma with a high ratio is that it renders earnings volatile and leaves it at the mercy of interest rates, which can be expensive.

In fact, Buffett takes the results of this ratio very seriously and it's very educational to comprehend the reasons why. Like all investors, he wants a company to only possess a tiny quantity of debt and the reason why is that a tiny quantity of debt indicates that growth in income is being yielded from shareholders' equity contrary to borrowed money. If a company utilises borrowed money to finance its income, this usually forms a vicious cycle of debt and repayments which is unstable and which is dependent on interest rates.

What investors should take from this part of the series is that they should focus on companies that possess a low ratio, but not just any low ratio, it must be low compared to other companies in the same sector. It's not difficult to get the numbers necessary to calculate such a ratio, because as I highlighted in a previous paragraph, this is all available on company reports which themselves are publicly available.

Some investors use only long-term debt instead of total liabilities in the calculation of the ratio. This could prove to be more useful and convenient as investing in stocks is for the long-term not the short-term. This is not just my own personal view, but Warren Buffett's own way of thinking.