Debt Ratio Regression: January 2026

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Variables used in the regression

1. Debt Ratio = Debt/ (Market Value of Equity + Debt): If you can get market value of debt, use it. Else, use book value of debt.
2. Payout Ratio= Dividends/ Net Income, if Net Income is positve, not available if net income is negative.
3. Expected growth rate in EPS- next 5 years= You can use expected or even historical earnings growth, if you don't have an EPS growth forecast
4. Effective Tax Rate = Effective tax rate in most recent year

US Regression

Global Regression

Regression Statistics

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• How do I use this regression?

Assume that you want to estimate the market debt ratio for a firm with the following characteristics, using the Global regression

Effective tax rate = 25%

% held by institutions = 30%

Company age = 37

Expected growth rate in EPS = 12%

• Predicted Value

Expected Debt Ratio = =17.419-0.057 (25) -20.401 (.12) -2.153 (.30) + 0.033 (37) = 14.12 or 14.12%

If your predicted value is less than zero, your predicted debt ratio is zero.