Yahoo Finance CONMED (NASDAQ:CNMD) Seems To Use Debt Quite Sensibly
Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of permanent loss is the risk I worry about... and every practical investor I know worries about.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. As with many other companies CONMED Corporation (NASDAQ:CNMD) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.
What Risk Does Debt Bring?
Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.
View our latest analysis for CONMED
What Is CONMED's Debt?
The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2019 CONMED had debt of US$809.2m, up from US$449.2m in one year. However, it also had US$22.5m in cash, and so its net debt is US$786.6m.
How Strong Is CONMED's Balance Sheet?
According to the last reported balance sheet, CONMED had liabilities of US$155.8m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$906.6m due beyond 12 months. Offsetting this, it had US$22.5m in cash and US$179.0m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$860.8m more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.
CONMED has a market capitalization of US$2.77b, 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.
We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). This way, we consider both the absolute quantum of the debt, as well as the interest rates paid on it.
With a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 5.2, it's fair to say CONMED does have a significant amount of debt. But the good news is that it boasts fairly comforting interest cover of 2.6 times, suggesting it can responsibly service its obligations. On a slightly more positive note, CONMED grew its EBIT at 14% over the last year, further increasing its ability to manage debt. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine CONMED's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.
Finally, a business needs free cash flow to pay off debt; accounting profits just don't cut it. So it's worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, CONMED recorded free cash flow worth 67% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This cold hard cash means it can reduce its debt when it wants to.
Our View
CONMED's net debt to EBITDA was a real negative on this analysis, as was its interest cover. But its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow was significantly redeeming. We would also note that Medical Equipment industry companies like CONMED commonly do use debt without problems. When we consider all the elements mentioned above, it seems to us that CONMED is managing its debt quite well. But a word of caution: we think debt levels are high enough to justify ongoing monitoring. We'd be motivated to research the stock further if we found out that CONMED insiders have bought shares recently. If you would too, then you're in luck, since today we're sharing our list of reported insider transactions for free.
If you're interested in investing in businesses that can grow profits without the burden of debt, then check out this free list of growing businesses that have net cash on the balance sheet.
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
