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Caesarstone (NASDAQ:CSTE) 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.' 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 can see that Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ:CSTE) does use debt in its business. But is this debt a concern to shareholders?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. 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. 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 examine debt levels, we first consider both cash and debt levels, together.

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Check out our latest analysis for Caesarstone

What Is Caesarstone's Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Caesarstone had debt of US$874.0k at the end of June 2019, a reduction from US$19.7m over a year. However, it does have US$99.4m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of US$98.5m.

NasdaqGS:CSTE Historical Debt, September 4th 2019
NasdaqGS:CSTE Historical Debt, September 4th 2019

How Healthy Is Caesarstone's Balance Sheet?

Zooming in on the latest balance sheet data, we can see that Caesarstone had liabilities of US$108.7m due within 12 months and liabilities of US$104.5m due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had US$99.4m in cash and US$116.0m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its total liabilities are just about perfectly matched by its shorter-term, liquid assets.

This state of affairs indicates that Caesarstone's balance sheet looks quite solid, as its total liabilities are just about equal to its liquid assets. So it's very unlikely that the US$511.1m company is short on cash, but still worth keeping an eye on the balance sheet. Succinctly put, Caesarstone boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

On the other hand, Caesarstone's EBIT dived 18%, over the last year. We think hat kind of performance, if repeated frequently, could well lead to difficulties for the stock. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Caesarstone'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. While Caesarstone has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. During the last three years, Caesarstone produced sturdy free cash flow equating to 58% of its EBIT, about what we'd expect. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Summing up

While it is always sensible to investigate a company's debt, in this case Caesarstone has US$98m in net cash and a decent-looking balance sheet. So we are not troubled with Caesarstone's debt use. We'd be motivated to research the stock further if we found out that Caesarstone 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.

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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

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.