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Financial ratios are commonly used tools for comparing various pieces of financial information. For example, some common financial ratios include Earnings Per Share (EPS), Price-to-Earnings (P/E), and Debt to Equity (D/E). 

Both internal and external stakeholders rely on financial ratios to make decisions and evaluate an organization’s overall financial outlook. This article provides an overview of common financial ratios, how they’re calculated, and how to interpret those calculations based on your needs. 

What Are Financial Ratios?

Financial ratios are a means of measuring the relationship between two or more sets of financial data. Usually, this data is available through a company’s past and present financial statements, including their income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. 

Financial ratios are considered a key component of fundamental equity analysis. These calculations examine a company’s liquidity, profitability, efficiency, leverage, valuation, and more.

Why Are Financial Ratios Important?

There are three main reasons why stakeholders might use financial ratio analysis:

• To evaluate how a company’s performance has changed over time. Comparing both past and present metrics allows stakeholders to get a better sense of how a company has changed and evolved over a given period of time. Metrics are used to identify trends and measure whether a company’s performance is aligned with its current goals.   
• To compare a company’s performance with the performance of another company. How does a company stack up to others in its industry? Is it outperforming its competitors, or are its competitors outperforming them? Managers might use this data to strategize on areas for improvement, while investors might use it to gauge whether a company is a worthwhile investment.
• To estimate a company’s future performance. What are the risks associated with this company’s performance? Is it on track to meet its long-term goals? As an example, many investors rely on market value ratios like EPS and P/E to judge how a stock is likely to perform over time. 

Who Uses Financial Ratio Analysis?

Whether you’re seeking to understand a company’s past, present, or future, there are a multitude of stakeholders who may be interested in financial ratio analysis. 

Internally, business owners, employees, and members of management teams might use financial ratios as part of their decision-making process. These figures provide a sense of a company’s performance, as well as the risks associated with its performance moving forward. 

Similarly, many external investors and industry observers employ financial ratio analysis in order to evaluate a company’s valuation and overall financial health. These calculations might also provide insight into whether a stock price is likely to change over time. 

Types Of Financial Ratios

Financial ratios are used to examine the relationship between a variety of different factors related to a company’s performance and financial well-being. Depending on your needs, you may find some ratios more useful than others. 

Financial ratios can be grouped into the following five categories:

Liquidity Ratios

Liquidity ratios determine whether a company has the ability to pay off its debts and other liabilities. As such, these ratios are often used in order to get a sense of the strength of a company’s cash flow.

Current ratio. This ratio determines whether a company will be able to pay off its liabilities over the next 12 months. It compares current assets with current liabilities in order to see whether a company is able to meet its obligations over the short term.

Equation:

• Current ratio = Current assets / Current liabilities

 

Quick ratio. This is also known as the acid-test ratio. It shows a company’s ability to pay off short-term liabilities with “quick” assets—meaning that it subtracts the value of its current inventory from the value of its current assets as part of its calculation. 

Equation:

• Quick ratio = Current assets – Inventories / Current liabilities

 

Cash ratio. A metric used to determine how much cash a company has on hand compared to its total liabilities. In other words, it tells you whether a company could pay its liabilities in cash.

Equation:

• Cash ratio = Cash + Cash equivalents / Current liabilities

 

Operating cash flow ratio. A calculation of how much cash a business has on hand at any given point in time in order to determine whether it would be able to pay off its liabilities. 

Equation:

• Operating cash flow ratio = Operating cash flow / Current liabilities

Leverage Ratios

Leverage ratios are also known as solvency ratios. They’re used to determine whether a company will be able to pay off its debts over the long term. 

Debt ratio. A debt ratio measures the relationship between a company’s liabilities and assets. It’s useful in understanding whether a company is able to pay off its debts with its current assets, for example.

Equation:

• Debt ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets

 

Debt-to-equity ratio (D/E). This metric shows how much debt a company has in relation to how much equity it holds. It compares total liabilities with shareholder’s equity.

Equation:

• Debt to equity ratio = Total liabilities / Shareholder’s equity

Efficiency Ratios

Efficiency ratios are used to determine whether a company is using its assets and resources efficiently or not. They’re also known as activity financial ratios.

Asset turnover ratio. This shows how much in sales a company can make from its assets. 

Equation:

• Asset turnover ratio = Net sales / Average total assets

 

Inventory turnover ratio. Use this metric to determine how often a company sells and replaces its inventory over a given period of time. 

Equation:

• Inventory turnover ratio = Cost of goods sold / Average inventory

 

Day’s sales in inventory ratio. This metric shows the average number of days in which a company holds its inventory before selling it to customers.

Equation:

• Days sales in inventory ratio = 365 days / Inventory turnover ratio

Profitability Ratios

As its name implies, profitability ratios determine whether a company is able to turn a profit. These metrics take a variety of factors into consideration, including balance sheet assets, revenue, and equity.

Operating margin ratio. Measuring the relationship between operating income and net sales shows how much revenue a company has after accounting for its operating costs.

Equation:

• Operating margin ratio = Operating income / Net sales

 

Return on assets ratio. Is a company able to use its assets to generate income? This metric measures the net income generated from a company’s total assets.

Equation:

• Return on assets ratio = Net income / Total assets

 

Return on equity ratio. Is a company able to use its equity to generate income? Similarly to ROA, ROE shows how efficiently a company uses its equity to make a profit. 

Equation:

• Return on equity ratio = Net income / Shareholder’s equity

 

Gross margin ratio. This metric compares a company’s gross margin to its net sales. In other words, it shows how much profit a company makes from the sale of its goods after the cost of those goods is taken into account. 

Equation:

• Gross margin ratio = Gross profit / Net sales

Market Value Ratios

Market value ratios, also known as market prospect ratios, are commonly used tools in fundamental analysis. They show the relationship between the value of a company’s stock and its market price. 

Dividend yield ratio. This metric shows investors how much their investment pays out in dividends. It measures how much money a company pays out in dividends divided by its current stock price.

Equation:

• Dividend yield ratio = Dividend per share / Share price

 

Price-to-earnings ratio (P/E). This metric compares a company’s share price to its earnings per share. Investors might use this metric to track how a company’s stock price is trending over time. Also, it gives a sense of how a company’s stock price compares to that of other companies on the market.

Equation:

• Price-earnings ratio = Share price / Earnings per share

 

Earnings per share (EPS). This metric shows the amount of net income earned for each outstanding share. In other words, it shows how likely it is for a company to generate profits for its investors.

Equation:

• Earnings per share = Net earnings / Total shares outstanding

The Limitations Of Financial Ratio Analysis

When it comes to quantitative analysis, it’s important to recognize that the numbers don’t always tell the full story. For example, a business might make important changes in its operations. These changes might not have an immediate impact on their financials, yet they’re still important to take into consideration when evaluating the business’s financial well-being. 

Ultimately, it’s important to look at financial ratios as smaller pieces of a much larger financial puzzle. Stakeholders should have a solid understanding of the variables associated with these measurements, as well as their potential limitations, in order to avoid any potential misunderstanding.

Conclusion

Accountants, business owners, and investors alike rely on financial ratio analysis in order to understand the financial outlook of businesses in the market. These calculations provide information about a company’s liquidity, leverage, efficiency, profitability, and valuation, among other things. As such, a wide range of stakeholders are able to make decisions about the company’s future with greater intelligence.

Xledger’s cloud-based accounting software is designed to provide real-time insight into your company’s financials. It streamlines your company’s financials in order to get the information you need when you need it most. Contact us to get started today!  

 

Additional reading related to business reporting and metrics:

Business Intelligence Tools

Importance of Financial Reporting

Objectives of Financial Reporting