Why Amcor plc (ASX:AMC) Is A Financially Healthy Company

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Amcor plc (ASX:AMC), a large-cap worth AU$26b, comes to mind for investors seeking a strong and reliable stock investment. Most investors favour these big stocks due to their strong balance sheet and high market liquidity, meaning there are an abundance of stock in the public market available for trading. In times of low liquidity in the market, these firms won’t be left high and dry. They are also relatively unaffected by increases in interest rates. Assessing the most recent data for AMC, I will take you through the key ratios to measure financial health, in particular, its solvency and liquidity.

Check out our latest analysis for Amcor

Can AMC service its debt comfortably?

A debt-to-equity ratio threshold varies depending on what industry the company operates, since some requires more debt financing than others. Generally, large-cap stocks are considered financially healthy if its ratio is below 40%. For Amcor, investors should not worry about its debt levels because the company has none! This means it has been running its business utilising funding from only its equity capital, which is rather impressive. Investors' risk associated with debt is virtually non-existent with AMC, and the company has plenty of headroom and ability to raise debt should it need to in the future.

ASX:AMC Historical Debt, June 27th 2019
ASX:AMC Historical Debt, June 27th 2019

Does AMC’s liquid assets cover its short-term commitments?

Given zero long-term debt on its balance sheet, Amcor has no solvency issues, which is used to describe the company’s ability to meet its long-term obligations. However, another measure of financial health is its short-term obligations, which is known as liquidity. These include payments to suppliers, employees and other stakeholders. At the current liabilities level of US$34.0, the company has maintained a safe level of current assets to meet its obligations, with the current ratio last standing at 3.82x. The current ratio is calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities. Having said that, a ratio above 3x may be considered excessive by some investors, yet this is not usually a major negative for a company.

Next Steps:

AMC has zero debt in addition to ample cash to cover its near-term liabilities. Its strong balance sheet reduces risk for the company and shareholders. Keep in mind I haven't considered other factors such as how AMC has performed in the past. You should continue to research Amcor to get a better picture of the stock by looking at:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for AMC’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for AMC’s outlook.

  2. Valuation: What is AMC worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether AMC is currently mispriced by the market.

  3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

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.

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