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.' 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 Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) makes use of debt. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free 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. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

What Is Vulcan Materials's Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Vulcan Materials had debt of US$3.33b at the end of March 2024, a reduction from US$3.88b over a year. On the flip side, it has US$292.4m in cash leading to net debt of about US$3.04b.

How Strong Is Vulcan Materials' Balance Sheet?

According to the last reported balance sheet, Vulcan Materials had liabilities of US$696.2m due within 12 months, and liabilities of US$5.70b due beyond 12 months. On the other hand, it had cash of US$292.4m and US$886.1m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by US$5.22b.

Of course, Vulcan Materials has a titanic market capitalization of US$34.7b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. However, we do think it is worth keeping an eye on its balance sheet strength, as it may change over time.

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). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

Vulcan Materials's net debt of 1.5 times EBITDA suggests graceful use of debt. And the alluring interest cover (EBIT of 8.1 times interest expense) certainly does not do anything to dispel this impression. Another good sign is that Vulcan Materials has been able to increase its EBIT by 30% in twelve months, making it easier to pay down debt. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Vulcan Materials'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.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Over the most recent three years, Vulcan Materials recorded free cash flow worth 51% 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

The good news is that Vulcan Materials's demonstrated ability to grow its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. And we also thought its interest cover was a positive. Taking all this data into account, it seems to us that Vulcan Materials takes a pretty sensible approach to debt. While that brings some risk, it can also enhance returns for shareholders. 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. To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Vulcan Materials .

If, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.

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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.