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Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Has A Somewhat Strained Balance Sheet

Chesapeake Utilities (NYSE:CPK) Has A Somewhat Strained Balance Sheet

切薩皮克公用事業(紐約證券交易所代碼:CPK)的資產負債表有些緊張
Simply Wall St ·  02/26 07:49

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the 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. We note that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE:CPK) does have debt on its balance sheet. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

大衛·伊本說得好,他說:“波動性不是我們關心的風險。我們關心的是避免資本的永久損失。”當你檢查公司的資產負債表的風險時,考慮它的資產負債表是很自然的,因爲企業倒閉時通常會涉及債務。我們注意到,切薩皮克公用事業公司(紐約證券交易所代碼:CPK)的資產負債表上確實有債務。但是,股東是否應該擔心其債務的使用?

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

債務會帶來什麼風險?

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. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Having said that, the most common situation is where a company manages its debt reasonably well - and to its own advantage. When we examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

一般而言,只有當公司無法通過籌集資金或用自己的現金流輕鬆還清債務時,債務才會成爲真正的問題。如果情況變得非常糟糕,貸款人可以控制業務。但是,更常見(但仍然昂貴)的情況是,公司爲了控制債務,必須以低廉的股價稀釋股東。話雖如此,最常見的情況是公司合理地管理債務,而且對自己有利。當我們檢查債務水平時,我們首先要同時考慮現金和債務水平。

What Is Chesapeake Utilities's Debt?

切薩皮克公用事業公司的債務是多少?

As you can see below, at the end of December 2023, Chesapeake Utilities had US$1.39b of debt, up from US$802.0m a year ago. Click the image for more detail. And it doesn't have much cash, so its net debt is about the same.

如下所示,截至2023年12月底,切薩皮克公用事業公司的債務爲13.9億美元,高於去年同期的8,200萬美元。點擊圖片查看更多細節。而且它沒有太多現金,因此其淨負債大致相同。

debt-equity-history-analysis
NYSE:CPK Debt to Equity History February 26th 2024
紐約證券交易所:CPK 債務與股權比率歷史記錄 2024 年 2 月 26 日

How Healthy Is Chesapeake Utilities' Balance Sheet?

切薩皮克公用事業公司的資產負債表有多健康?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Chesapeake Utilities had liabilities of US$386.4m falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$1.67b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had US$4.90m in cash and US$108.2m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total US$1.95b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

我們可以從最新的資產負債表中看出,切薩皮克公用事業公司在一年內到期的負債爲3.864億美元,在此之後到期的負債爲16.7億美元。與此相抵消的是,它有490萬美元的現金和1.082億美元的應收賬款將在12個月內到期。因此,其負債總額比其現金和短期應收賬款的總和高出19.5億美元。

This deficit is considerable relative to its market capitalization of US$2.22b, so it does suggest shareholders should keep an eye on Chesapeake Utilities' use of debt. This suggests shareholders would be heavily diluted if the company needed to shore up its balance sheet in a hurry.

相對於其22.2億美元的市值,這一赤字相當可觀,因此這確實表明股東應密切關注切薩皮克公用事業公司對債務的使用。這表明,如果公司需要迅速支撐資產負債表,股東將被嚴重稀釋。

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.

我們使用兩個主要比率來告知我們相對於收益的債務水平。第一個是淨負債除以利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷前的收益(EBITDA),第二個是其利息和稅前收益(EBIT)覆蓋其利息支出(或簡稱利息保障)的多少倍。這樣,我們既考慮債務的絕對數量,也考慮爲債務支付的利率。

Chesapeake Utilities has a rather high debt to EBITDA ratio of 5.8 which suggests a meaningful debt load. However, its interest coverage of 4.4 is reasonably strong, which is a good sign. On a slightly more positive note, Chesapeake Utilities grew its EBIT at 12% 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 Chesapeake Utilities'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.

切薩皮克公用事業公司的債務與息稅折舊攤銷前利潤的比率相當高,爲5.8,這表明債務負擔相當可觀。但是,其4.4的利息覆蓋率相當強,這是一個好兆頭。稍微樂觀的是,切薩皮克公用事業公司的息稅前利潤比去年增長了12%,進一步提高了其管理債務的能力。資產負債表顯然是分析債務時需要關注的領域。但是,未來的收益比什麼都重要,將決定切薩皮克公用事業公司未來維持健康資產負債表的能力。因此,如果你想看看專業人士的想法,你可能會發現這份關於分析師利潤預測的免費報告很有趣。

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. Over the last three years, Chesapeake Utilities reported free cash flow worth 2.1% of its EBIT, which is really quite low. That limp level of cash conversion undermines its ability to manage and pay down debt.

最後,儘管稅務人員可能喜歡會計利潤,但貸款人只接受冷硬現金。因此,我們總是檢查息稅前利潤中有多少轉化爲自由現金流。在過去的三年中,切薩皮克公用事業公司公佈的自由現金流佔其息稅前利潤的2.1%,確實很低。這種低迷的現金轉換水平削弱了其管理和償還債務的能力。

Our View

我們的觀點

Mulling over Chesapeake Utilities's attempt at managing its debt, based on its EBITDA,, we're certainly not enthusiastic. But on the bright side, its EBIT growth rate is a good sign, and makes us more optimistic. It's also worth noting that Chesapeake Utilities is in the Gas Utilities industry, which is often considered to be quite defensive. Looking at the balance sheet and taking into account all these factors, we do believe that debt is making Chesapeake Utilities stock a bit risky. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but we'd generally feel more comfortable with less leverage. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But ultimately, every company can contain risks that exist outside of the balance sheet. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Chesapeake Utilities (1 is potentially serious) you should be aware of.

仔細考慮切薩皮克公用事業公司根據其息稅折舊攤銷前利潤管理債務的嘗試,我們當然並不熱情。但好的一面是,其息稅前利潤增長率是一個好兆頭,也使我們更加樂觀。還值得注意的是,切薩皮克公用事業公司屬於燃氣公用事業行業,人們通常認爲該行業具有很強的防禦性。從資產負債表來看,考慮到所有這些因素,我們確實認爲債務使切薩皮克公用事業公司的股票有點風險。這不一定是一件壞事,但我們通常會因爲降低槓桿率而感到更自在。資產負債表顯然是分析債務時需要關注的領域。但歸根結底,每家公司都可以控制資產負債表之外存在的風險。例如,我們已經確定了切薩皮克公用事業公司的3個警告信號(其中一個可能很嚴重),你應該注意。

Of course, if you're the type of investor who prefers buying stocks without the burden of debt, then don't hesitate to discover our exclusive list of net cash growth stocks, today.

當然,如果你是那種喜歡在沒有債務負擔的情況下購買股票的投資者,那麼請立即查看我們的獨家淨現金增長股票清單。

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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.

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Simply Wall St的這篇文章本質上是籠統的。我們僅使用公正的方法根據歷史數據和分析師的預測提供評論,我們的文章無意作爲財務建議。它不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議,也沒有考慮到您的目標或財務狀況。我們的目標是爲您提供由基本數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。簡而言之,華爾街沒有持有任何上述股票的頭寸。

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