What is the Debt-to-Equity Ratio (2024)

FAQs

What is the Debt-to-Equity Ratio? ›

Although it varies from industry to industry, a debt-to-equity ratio of around 2 or 2.5 is generally considered good. This ratio tells us that for every dollar invested in the company, about 66 cents come from debt, while the other 33 cents come from the company's equity.

What Is the Debt-to-Equity (D/E) Ratio? The debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio is used to evaluate a company's financial leverage and is calculated by dividing a company's total liabilities by its shareholder equity.

The optimal D/E ratio varies by industry, but it should not be above a level of 2.0. A D/E ratio of 2 indicates the company derives two-thirds of its capital financing from debt and one-third from shareholder equity.

Generally, a lower ratio is better, as it implies that the company is in less debt and is less risky for lenders and investors. A debt-to-equity ratio of 0.5 or below is considered good.

The debt-to-equity ratio shows how much of a company is owned by creditors (people it has borrowed money from) compared with how much shareholder equity is held by the company.

In general, a ratio around 0.3 to 0.6 is where many investors will feel comfortable, though a company's specific situation may yield different results.

The debt to equity ratio shows a company's debt as a percentage of its shareholder's equity. If the debt to equity ratio is less than 1.0, then the firm is generally less risky than firms whose debt to equity ratio is greater than 1.0.

Good debt-to-equity ratio for businesses

Many investors prefer a company's debt-to-equity ratio to stay below 2—that is, they believe it is important for a company's debts to be only double their equity at most. Some investors are more comfortable investing when a company's debt-to-equity ratio doesn't exceed 1 to 1.5.

Key takeaways

Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt obligations compared to your gross monthly income (before taxes), expressed as a percentage. A good debt-to-income ratio is less than or equal to 36%. Any debt-to-income ratio above 43% is considered to be too much debt.

Since a high debt-to-equity ratio is associated with increased risk, investors typically prefer businesses with low to moderate D/E ratios (1-2). Overleveraged companies might not appeal to potential investors due to the increased probability of bankruptcy.

What is the debt-to-equity ratio quizlet? ›

What is the Debt-to-Equity ratio? Total Liabilities/Total Owner's Equity. The D/E ratio indicates how much debt a company is using to finance its assets relative to the amount of value represented in shareholders' equity.

A debt ratio measures the amount of leverage used by a company in terms of total debt to total assets. This ratio varies widely across industries, such that capital-intensive businesses tend to have much higher debt ratios than others. A company's debt ratio can be calculated by dividing total debt by total assets.

A company's debt ratio can be calculated by dividing total debt by total assets. A debt ratio that's less than 1 or 100% is considered ideal, while a debt ratio that's greater than 1 or 100% means a company has more debt than assets.

Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. This number is one way lenders measure your ability to manage the monthly payments to repay the money you plan to borrow. Different loan products and lenders will have different DTI limits.