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Price to book, also referred to as price to book value or P/Bk, means the closing per share price divided by the last quarter's book value per share. Book value, in turn, refers to the total value of the company less all debts or other liabilities and less intangible value such as goodwill or patents. To get per share book value, that total book value is divided by the number of common stock shares. A low price to book value indicates that the per share book value is greater than the price. Typically, a bargain level P/Bk value is 0.8 or below. In theory, if a company had to cease operations, one could at least salvage the book value. There are many exceptions to this, however, so, assuming it remains a profit making enterprise, the lower the P/Bk the investor can find in a good company the better.
Debt to equity, also referred to as D/E, usually is regarded as the company's liabilities divided by shareholders' equity. Shareholders' equity, in turn, means the business' total assets less its total liabilities. Graham wanted D/E to be .99 or below, in other words that there be more assets per share left over after subtracting all debt.
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