Taking a Look at Leverage Ratio

The leverage ratio would be 20%, which was measured by debt divided by the market value of AGI’s invested

By the end of 1999, Seagate had a BBB credit rating issued by S&P for its long-term debt. Based upon historical operating performance, it would seem that Seagate’s leverage ratio has high volatility due to its high volatility in market value of equity and operational performance. However, we believe that the current leverage ratio is above its optimal leverage because in 1998 the firm had a -2.72 EBIT interest coverage ratio using the greater debt load of $703 million on its books. In the recapitalization for the leveraged buyout, a

Higher leverage is very likely to create value for a firm considering capital structure change by exerting financial discipline and more efficient corporate strategy changes.

The company’s debt ratios are 54.5% in 1988, 58.69% in 1989, 62.7% in 1990, and 67.37% in 1991. What this means is that the company is increasing its financial risk by taking on more leverage. The company has been taking an extensive amount of purchasing over the past couple of years, which could be the reason as to why net income has not grown much beyond several thousands of dollars. One could argue that the company is trying to expand its inventory to help accumulate future sales. But another problem is that the company’s

Also, according to its leverage ratios, the company’s debts are not only very high, but are also increasing. Its decreasing TIE ratio indicates that its capability to pay interests is decreasing. The company’s efficiency ratios indicate that despite the fact that its fixed assets are increasingly being utilized to generate sales during the years 1990-1991 as indicated by its increasing fixed asset turnover ratio, the decreasing total assets turnover indicate that overall the company’s total assets are not efficiently being put to use. Thus, as a whole its asset management is becoming less efficient. Last but not the least, based on its profitability ratios, the company’s ability to make profit is decreasing.

Using the scenarios in case Exhibit 9, what role does leverage play in affecting the return on equity (ROE) for CPK? What about the cost of capital? In assessing the effect of leverage on the cost of capital, you may assume that a firm’s CAPM beta can be modeled in the following manner: BL = BU[1 + (1 − T)D/E], where BU is the firm’s beta without leverage, T is the corporate income tax rate, D is the market value of debt, and E is the market value of equity.

The effect of financial leverage on the cost of equity is prevalent in the Modigliani-Miller capital structure theory. Since the financial leverage increases the cost of equity, it can be considered one of the disadvantages of borrowing. As shown in Appendix A, the cost of equity, at each debt to capital ratio, increases by 0.1% as the financial leverage increases by 10%. With a higher

The decrease shows a prudent position particularly in when the world is undergoing economic recession; Rio Tinto Ltd reduced its reliance on debt to finance its assets. This also explained the 22% increase in current portion of long term debt, i.e. the company retired major portion of its debt holdings in the last year.

Leverage and liquidity ratios in respect to the O.M Scott & Sons Company vary widely. The overall liquidity of the company does not indicate that lack of cash will impede their operational ability. Although the current ratio increases to a high of 4.2999 in 1960, their ability to meet short-term obligations should not be affected. However, it may indicate that there is too much inventory or cash could be better spent in other areas of the business. The financial leverage ratio increases from a low of .5335 in 1957, to a high of 1.3928 in 1961. This change shows that the company is becoming more dependent on using debt to finance its assets.

Before beginning an analysis of a company it is necessary to have a complete set of financial statements, preferably for the pas few years so that historical trends can be obtained. Ratios are a way for anyone to get an idea of the financial performance of a company by using the information contained in the financial statements. Ratios are grouped into four basic categories, liquidity, activity, profitability, and financial leverage. This document will use a variety of these ratios to analyze the firm, Sample Company, as of December 31,2000.

It seems then that companies should fully leverage the company or a least come close to doing so but there is a probability that the company enters financial distress as its leverage (D/E) increases. Financial distress can be very costly for companies, and the cost for this scenario is shown in the current market value of the levered firm's securities. Investors factor the potential for future distress into their assessment of the present value (this is where PV of distress costs is subtracted from un-levered company value and the PV of the tax-shield.) The value for the costs

You can make use of three different ratios to evaluate company and measure its financial strength. Two of the ratios viz. debt and debt-equity ratios are very common measurements. The third one, capitalization ratio, gives a proper insight in evaluating the company’s capital structure.

From this set of problems, we can see that leverage is good for the firm. Leverage has increased the value of the firm as a whole and increased the price per share. Although the cost of debt increases the firm's risk because it increases the probability of default and bankruptcy, therefore shareholders will require higher rates of return on the equity they provide, debt also provides tax savings. And we can see that in table 4, where we calculated the total value of the firm as the pure business cash flows plus the tax savings. Another reason why debt increases firm value is the fact that it reduces WACC, because the cost of debt is generally lower than the cost of equity. Another option that shareholders can do is using homemade leverage. Shareholders should pay a premium for the shares of a levered firm when the addition of debt increases value.

Already in 1958, Modigliani and Miller have pointed the discussion of capital structure towards the cost of debt and equity. According to their first proposition, in a world of no corporate taxes and with perfect markets, financial leverage has no effect on a firm’s value. In their second proposition, they state that the cost of equity equals a linear function defined by the required return on assets and the cost of debt (Modigliani and Miller, 1958).

West Company's cost structure will include a larger proportion of variable costs than East Company's cost structure. A firm's operating leverage factor, at a particular sales volume, is defined as its total contribution margin divided by its net income. Since East Company has proportionately higher fixed costs, it will have a proportionately higher total contribution margin. Therefore, East Company's operating leverage factor will be higher.