We Think Apogee Enterprises (NASDAQ:APOG) Can Stay On Top Of Its Debt

Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital.' So it seems the smart money knows that debt - which is usually involved in bankruptcies - is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

When Is Debt Dangerous?

Debt is a tool to help businesses grow, but if a business is incapable of paying off its lenders, then it exists at their mercy. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Apogee Enterprises

What Is Apogee Enterprises's Debt?

As you can see below, Apogee Enterprises had US$165.0m of debt at February 2021, down from US$217.9m a year prior. However, it also had US$47.3m in cash, and so its net debt is US$117.7m.

How Strong Is Apogee Enterprises' Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Apogee Enterprises had liabilities of US$217.6m due within 12 months and liabilities of US$304.8m due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$47.3m as well as receivables valued at US$205.4m due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$269.7m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Apogee Enterprises has a market capitalization of US$992.0m, so it could very likely raise cash to ameliorate its balance sheet, if the need arose. However, it is still worthwhile taking a close look at its ability to pay off debt.

In order to size up a company's debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). Thus we consider debt relative to earnings both with and without depreciation and amortization expenses.

Apogee Enterprises has a low net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.93. And its EBIT covers its interest expense a whopping 16.9 times over. So you could argue it is no more threatened by its debt than an elephant is by a mouse. The good news is that Apogee Enterprises has increased its EBIT by 2.7% over twelve months, which should ease any concerns about debt repayment. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Apogee Enterprises can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. Over the last three years, Apogee Enterprises recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 95% of its EBIT, which is stronger than we'd usually expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.

Our View

The good news is that Apogee Enterprises's demonstrated ability to cover its interest expense with its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. And that's just the beginning of the good news since its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow is also very heartening. When we consider the range of factors above, it looks like Apogee Enterprises is pretty sensible with its use of debt. While that brings some risk, it can also enhance returns for shareholders. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Apogee Enterprises you should know about.

When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now.

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