Leverage ratio indicating the relative proportion of shareholders' equity and debt used to finance a company's assets. A low debt to equity ratio indicates lower risk, because debt holders have less claims on the company's assets. A debt to equity ratio of 5 means that debt holders have a 5 times more claim on assets than equity holders.
A high debt to equity ratio usually means that a company has been aggressive in financing growth with debt and often results in volatile earnings.
It is also known as Debt/Equity Ratio, Debt-Equity Ratio, and D/E Ratio. Learn More
