Here's Why Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it might be obvious that you need to consider debt, when you think about how risky any given stock is, because too much debt can sink a company. We can see that Parker-Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:PH) does use debt in its business. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

When Is Debt A Problem?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Parker-Hannifin

How Much Debt Does Parker-Hannifin Carry?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Parker-Hannifin had debt of US$7.07b at the end of December 2020, a reduction from US$9.75b over a year. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$608.0m, its net debt is less, at about US$6.47b.

How Healthy Is Parker-Hannifin's Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Parker-Hannifin had liabilities of US$3.21b falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$9.50b due beyond that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$608.0m as well as receivables valued at US$2.14b due within 12 months. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$9.95b.

This deficit isn't so bad because Parker-Hannifin is worth a massive US$40.6b, and thus could probably raise enough capital to shore up its balance sheet, if the need arose. But it's clear that we should definitely closely examine whether it can manage its debt without dilution.

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.

Parker-Hannifin's net debt of 2.4 times EBITDA suggests graceful use of debt. And the fact that its trailing twelve months of EBIT was 7.5 times its interest expenses harmonizes with that theme. Notably Parker-Hannifin's EBIT was pretty flat over the last year. Ideally it can diminish its debt load by kick-starting earnings growth. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Parker-Hannifin's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. 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. During the last three years, Parker-Hannifin generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 91% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That puts it in a very strong position to pay down debt.

Our View

Parker-Hannifin's conversion of EBIT to free cash flow suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14's goalkeeper. But truth be told we feel its net debt to EBITDA does undermine this impression a bit. All these things considered, it appears that Parker-Hannifin can comfortably handle its current debt levels. Of course, while this leverage can enhance returns on equity, it does bring more risk, so it's worth keeping an eye on this one. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. These risks can be hard to spot. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Parker-Hannifin you should know about.

At the end of the day, it's often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). It's free.

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