Current Ratio

A liquidity ratio that measures a company's ability to pay short-term obligations. The Current Ratio formula is:

Also known as "liquidity ratio", "cash asset ratio" and "cash ratio". Current Ratio: The ratio is mainly used to give an idea of the company's ability to pay back its short-term liabilities (debt and payables) with its short-term assets (cash, inventory, receivables). The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is of paying its obligations. A ratio under 1 suggests that the company would be unable to pay off its obligations if they came due at that point. While this shows the company is not in good financial health, it does not necessarily mean that it will go bankrupt - as there are many ways to access financing but it is definitely not a good sign. The current ratio can give a sense of the efficiency of a company's operating cycle or its ability to turn its product into cash. Companies that have trouble getting paid on their receivables or have long inventory turnover can run into liquidity problems because they are unable to alleviate their obligations. Because business operations differ in each industry, it is always more useful to compare companies within the same industry. This ratio is similar to the acid-test ratio except that the acid-test ratio does not include inventory and prepaids as assets that can be liquidated. The components of current ratio (current assets and current liabilities) can be used to derive working capital (difference between current assets and current liabilities). Working capital is frequently used to derive the working capital ratio, which is working capital as a ratio of sales.

Acid-Test Ratio
A stringent indicator that determines whether a firm has enough short-term assets to cover its immediate liabilities without selling inventory. The acid-test ratio is far more strenuous than the working capital ratio, primarily because the working capital ratio allows for the inclusion of inventory assets.

Companies with ratios of less than 1 cannot pay their current liabilities and should be looked at with extreme caution. Furthermore, if the acid-test ratio is much lower than the working capital ratio, it means current assets are highly dependent on inventory. Retail stores are examples of this type of business. The term comes from the way gold miners would test whether their findings were real gold nuggets. Unlike other metals, gold does not corrode in acid; if the nugget didn't dissolve when submerged in acid, it was said to have passed the acid test. If a company's financial statements pass the figurative acid test, this indicates its financial integrity.

Cash Asset Ratio

The current value of marketable securities and cash, divided by the company's current liabilities. Also known as the cash ratio, the cash asset ratio compares the dollar amount of highly liquid assets (such as cash and marketable securities) for every one dollar of short-term liabilities. This figure is used to

measure a firm's liquidity or its ability to pay its short-term obligations. Ideal ratios will be different for different industries and for different sizes of corporations, and for many other reasons. The cash asset ratio is similar to the current ratio, except that the current ratio includes current assets such as inventories in the numerator. Some analysts believe that including current assets makes it difficult to convert them into usable funds for debt obligations. The cash asset ratio is a much more accurate measure of a firm's liquidity. For example, if a firm had $130,000 in marketable securities, $110,000 in cash and $200,000 in current liabilities, the cash asset ratio would be (130,000+110,000)/200,000 = 1.20. Ratios greater than 1 demonstrate a firm's ability to cover its current debt, but ratios that are too high might indicate that a company is not allocating enough resources to grow its business.

Working Capital Turnover/Sales to working capital

A measurement comparing the depletion of working capital to the generation of sales over a given period. This provides some useful information as to how effectively a company is using its working capital to generate sales.

A company uses working capital (current assets - current liabilities) to fund operations and purchase inventory. These operations and inventory are then converted into sales revenue for the company. The working capital turnover ratio is used to analyze the relationship between the money used to fund operations and the sales generated from these operations. In a general sense, the higher the working capital turnover, the better because it means that the company is generating a lot of sales compared to the money it uses to fund the sales. For example, if a company has current assets of $10 million and current liabilities of $9 million, its working capital is $1 million. When compared to sales of $15 million, the working capital turnover ratio for the period is 15 ($15M/$1M). When used in fundamental analysis, this ratio can be compared to that of similar companies or to the company's own historical working capital

Debt Ratio
A ratio that indicates what proportion of debt a company has relative to its assets. The measure gives an idea to the leverage of the company along with the potential risks the company faces in terms of its debtload.

A debt ratio of greater than 1 indicates that a company has more debt than assets, meanwhile, a debt ratio of less than 1 indicates that a company has more assets than debt. Used in conjunction with other measures of financial health, the debt ratio can help investors determine a company's level of risk.

Debt/Equity Ratio
A measure of a company's financial leverage calculated by dividing its total liabilities by stockholders' equity. It indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets.

Note: Sometimes only interest-bearing, long-term debt is used instead of total liabilities in the calculation. Also known as the Personal Debt/Equity Ratio, this ratio can be applied to personal financial statements as well as corporate ones. A high debt/equity ratio generally means that a company has been aggressive in financing its growth with debt. This can result in volatile earnings as a result of the additional interest expense. If a lot of debt is used to finance increased operations (high debt to equity), the company could potentially generate more earnings than it would have without this outside financing. If this were to increase earnings by a greater amount than the debt cost (interest), then the shareholders benefit as more earnings are being spread among the same amount of shareholders. However, the cost of this debt financing may outweigh the return that the company generates on the debt through investment and business activities and become too much for the company to handle. This can lead to bankruptcy, which would leave shareholders with nothing. The debt/equity ratio also depends on the industry in which the company operates. For example, capitalintensive industries such as auto manufacturing tend to have a debt/equity ratio above 2, while personal computer companies have a debt/equity of under 0.5.

Total Debt To Total Assets

A metric used to measure a company's financial risk by determining how much of the company's assets have been financed by debt. Calculated by adding short-term and long-term debt and then dividing by the company's total assets.

Investopedia explains Total Debt To Total Assets This is a very broad ratio as it includes short- and long-term debt as well as all types of both tangible and intangible assets.

Receivables Turnover Ratio

An accounting measure used to quantify a firm's effectiveness in extending credit as well as collecting debts. The receivables turnover ratio is an activity ratio, measuring how efficiently a firm uses its assets.

Some companies' reports will only show sales - this can affect the ratio depending on the size of cash sales.By maintaining accounts receivable, firms are indirectly extending interest-free loans to their clients. A high ratio implies either that a company operates on a cash basis or that its extension of credit and collection of accounts receivable is efficient. A low ratio implies the company should re-assess its credit policies in order to ensure the timely collection of imparted credit that is not earning interest for the firm.

Inventory Turnover
A ratio showing how many times a company's inventory is sold and replaced over a period. the

The days in the period can then be divided by the inventory turnover formula to calculate the days it takes to sell the inventory on hand or "inventory turnover days". Investopedia explains Inventory Turnover Although the first calculation is more frequently used, COGS (cost of goods sold) may be substituted because sales are recorded at market value, while inventories are usually recorded at cost. Also, average inventory may be used instead of the ending inventory level to minimize seasonal factors. This ratio should be compared against industry averages. A low turnover implies poor sales and, therefore, excess inventory. A high ratio implies either strong sales or ineffective buying. High inventory levels are unhealthy because they represent an investment with a rate of return of zero. It also opens the company up to trouble should prices begin to fall.

Asset Turnover
The amount of sales generated for every dollar's worth of assets. It is calculated by dividing sales in dollars by assets in dollars. Formula:

Also known as the Asset Turnover Ratio. Asset turnover measures a firm's efficiency at using its assets in generating sales or revenue - the higher the number the better. It also indicates pricing strategy: companies with low profit margins tend to have high asset turnover, while those with high profit margins have low asset turnover.

Days Sales Outstanding - DSO

A measure of the average number of days that a company takes to collect revenue after a sale has been made. A low DSO number means that it takes a company fewer days to collect its accounts receivable. A high DSO number shows that a company is selling its product to customers on credit and taking longer to collect money.Days sales outstanding is calculated as:

Due to the high importance of cash in running a business, it is in a company's best interest to collect outstanding receivables as quickly as possible. By quickly turning sales into cash, a company has the chance to put the cash to use again - ideally, to reinvest and make more sales. The DSO can be used to determine whether a company is trying to disguise weak sales, or is generally being ineffective at bringing money in. For most businesses, DSO is looked at either quarterly or annually.

Interest Coverage Ratio

A ratio used to determine how easily a company can pay interest on outstanding debt. The interest coverage ratio is calculated by dividing a company's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of one period by the company's interest expenses of the same period:

The lower the ratio, the more the company is burdened by debt expense. When a company's interest coverage ratio is 1.5 or lower, its ability to meet interest expenses may be questionable. An interest coverage ratio below 1 indicates the company is not generating sufficient revenues to satisfy interest expenses.

Days Sales Of Inventory DSI

A financial measure of a company's performance that gives investors an idea of how long it takes a company to turn its inventory (including goods that are work in progress, if applicable) into sales. Generally, the lower (shorter) the DSI the better, but it is important to note that the average DSI varies from one industry to another. Here is how the DSI is calculated:

Also known as days inventory outstanding (DIO). Investopedia explains Days Sales Of Inventory DSI This measure is one part of the cash conversion cycle, which represents the process of turning raw materials into cash. The days sales of inventory is the first stage in that process. The other two stages are days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding. The first measures how long it takes a company to receive payment on accounts receivable, while the second measures how long it takes a company to pay off its accounts payable.

Operating Income
The amount of profit realized from a business's operations after taking out operating expenses - such as cost of goods sold (COGS) or wages - and depreciation. Operating income takes the gross income (revenue minus COGS) and subtracts other operating expenses and then removes depreciation. These operating expenses are costs which are incurred from operating activities and include things such as office supplies and heat and power. Operating Income is typically a synonym for earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and is also commonly referred to as "operating profit" or "recurring profit". Calculated as: Investopedia explains Operating Income

Operating income would not include items such as investments in other firms, taxes or interest expenses.In addition, nonrecurring items such as cash paid for a lawsuit settlement are often not included. Operating income is required to calculate operating margin, which describes a company's operating efficiency.

Return On Investment ROI

A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. The return on investment formula:

In the above formula "gains from investment", refers to the proceeds obtained from selling the investment of interest. Return on investment is a very popular metric because of its versatility and simplicity. That is, if an investment does not have a positive ROI, or if there are other opportunities with a higher ROI, then the investment should be not be undertaken. Investopedia explains Return On Investment ROI Keep in mind that the calculation for return on investment and, therefore the definition, can be modified to suit the situation -it all depends on what you include as returns and costs. The definition of the term in the broadest sense just attempts to measure the profitability of an investment and, as such, there is no one "right" calculation. For example, a marketer may compare two different products by dividing the gross profit that each product has generated by its respective marketing expenses. A financial analyst, however, may compare the same two products using an entirely different ROI calculation, perhaps by dividing the net income of an investment by the total value of all resources that have been employed to make and sell the product. This flexibility has a downside, as ROI calculations can be easily manipulated to suit the user's purposes, and the result can be expressed in many different ways. When using this metric, make sure you understand what inputs are being used.

Return On Equity ROE

The amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Return on equity measures a corporation's profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. ROE is expressed as a percentage and calculated as: Return on Equity = Net Income/Shareholder's Equity Net income is for the full fiscal year (before dividends paid to common stock holders but after dividends to preferred stock.) Shareholder's equity does not include preferred shares.Also known as "return on net worth" (RONW).The ROE is useful for comparing the profitability of a company to that of other firms in the same industry. There are several variations on the formula that investors may use:

1. Investors wishing to see the return on common equity may modify the formula above by subtracting preferred dividends from net income and subtracting preferred equity from shareholders' equity, giving the following: return on common equity (ROCE) = net income - preferred dividends / common equity.

2. Return on equity may also be calculated by dividing net income by average shareholders' equity. Average shareholders' equity is calculated by adding the shareholders' equity at the beginning of a period to the shareholders' equity at period's end and dividing the result by two. 3. Investors may also calculate the change in ROE for a period by first using the shareholders' equity figure from the beginning of a period as a denominator to determine the beginning ROE. Then, the endof-period shareholders' equity can be used as the denominator to determine the ending ROE. Calculating both beginning and ending ROEs allows an investor to determine the change in profitability over the period.

Gross Profit
A company's revenue minus its cost of goods sold. Gross profit is a company's residual profit after selling a product or service and deducting the cost associated with its production and sale. To calculate gross profit: examine the income statement, take the revenue and subtract the cost of goods sold. Also called "gross margin" and "gross income".When analyzing a company, gross profit is very important because it indicates how efficiently management uses labor and supplies in the production process. More specifically, it can be used to calculate gross profit margin. Keep in mind that gross profit varies significantly from industry to industry. For example, take a look at the following situation to see how gross profit indicates a company's efficiency. Company A and Company B both have $1 million in sales. Company A's cost of goods sold (COGS) is $900,000 and Company B's COGS is $800,000. Company A's gross profit will be $100,000 and Company B's gross profit will be $200,000. Company B spends less money to make the same amount of sales, and is therefore more efficient.

Gross Profit Margin

A financial metric used to assess a firm's financial health by revealing the proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin serves as the source for paying additional expenses and future savings. Also known as "gross margin".

Where: COGS = Cost of Goods Sold For example, suppose that ABC Corp. earned $20 million in revenue from producing widgets and incurred $10 million in COGS-related expense. ABC's gross profit margin would be 50%. This means that for every dollar that ABC earns on widgets, it really has only $0.50 at the end of the day.

Dividend Yield
A financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share
price. In the absence of any capital gains, the dividend yield is the return on investment for a stock. Dividend yield is calculated as follows:

Investopedia explains Dividend Yield Dividend yield is a way to measure how much cash flow you are getting for each dollar invested in an equity position - in other words, how much "bang for your buck" you are getting from dividends. Investors who require a minimum stream of cash flow from their investment portfolio can secure this cash flow by investing in stocks paying relatively high, stable dividend yields. To better explain the concept, refer to this dividend yield example: If two companies both pay annual dividends of $1 per share, but ABC company's stock is trading at $20 while XYZ company's stock is trading at $40, then ABC has a dividend yield of 5% while XYZ is only yielding 2.5%. Thus, assuming all other factors are equivalent, an investor looking to supplement his or her income would likely prefer ABC's stock over that of XYZ.

Price-Earnings Ratio - P/E Ratio

A valuation ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings. Market Value per Share Earnings per Share (EPS) For example, if a company is currently trading at $43 a share and earnings over the last 12 months were $1.95 per share, the P/E ratio for the stock would be 22.05 ($43/$1.95). EPS is usually from the last four quarters (trailing P/E), but sometimes it can be taken from the estimates of earnings expected in the next four quarters (projected or forward P/E). A third variation uses the sum of the last two actual quarters and the estimates of the next two quarters. Also sometimes known as "price multiple" or "earnings multiple". Investopedia explains Price-Earnings Ratio - P/E Ratio In general, a high P/E suggests that investors are expecting higher earnings growth in the future compared to companies with a lower P/E. However, the P/E ratio doesn't tell us the whole story by itself. It's usually more useful to compare the P/E ratios of one company to other companies in the same industry, to the market in general or against the company's own historical P/E. It would not be useful for investors using the P/E ratio as a basis for their investment to compare the P/E of a technology company (high P/E) to a utility company (low P/E) as each industry has much different growth prospects. The P/E is sometimes referred to as the "multiple", because it shows how much investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings. If a company were currently trading at a multiple (P/E) of 20, the interpretation is that an investor is willing to pay $20 for $1 of current earnings. sIt is important that investors note an important problem that arises with the P/E measure, and to avoid basing a decision on this measure alone. The denominator (earnings) is based on an accounting measure of earnings that is susceptible to forms of manipulation, making the quality of the P/E only as good as the quality of the underlying earnings number.