MEDNAX (NYSE:MD) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly

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. We can see that MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE:MD) does use debt in its business. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

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. Ultimately, if the company can't fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. 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. 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. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for MEDNAX

What Is MEDNAX's Net Debt?

As you can see below, MEDNAX had US$1.00b of debt at September 2021, down from US$1.74b a year prior. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$456.4m, its net debt is less, at about US$546.1m.

How Healthy Is MEDNAX's Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, MEDNAX had liabilities of US$397.6m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$1.40b due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$456.4m in cash and US$279.3m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$1.06b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

While this might seem like a lot, it is not so bad since MEDNAX has a market capitalization of US$2.08b, and so it could probably strengthen its balance sheet by raising capital if it needed to. 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.

MEDNAX's net debt is sitting at a very reasonable 2.4 times its EBITDA, while its EBIT covered its interest expense just 3.1 times last year. While that doesn't worry us too much, it does suggest the interest payments are somewhat of a burden. Importantly MEDNAX's EBIT was essentially flat over the last twelve months. We would prefer to see some earnings growth, because that always helps diminish debt. 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 MEDNAX'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.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So we always check how much of that EBIT is translated into free cash flow. During the last three years, MEDNAX generated free cash flow amounting to a very robust 98% of its EBIT, more than we'd expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.

Our View

On our analysis MEDNAX's conversion of EBIT to free cash flow should signal that it won't have too much trouble with its debt. However, our other observations weren't so heartening. For instance it seems like it has to struggle a bit to cover its interest expense with its EBIT. It's also worth noting that MEDNAX is in the Healthcare industry, which is often considered to be quite defensive. Considering this range of data points, we think MEDNAX is in a good position to manage its debt levels. Having said that, the load is sufficiently heavy that we would recommend any shareholders keep a close eye on it. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. We've identified 2 warning signs with MEDNAX (at least 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.