In a scenario with two companies trading at 8X EBITDA, which type of company would typically have a higher Price-to-Earnings (PE) ratio?

A company with 100% equity would typically have a higher Price-to-Earnings (PE) ratio compared to a company that is financed partly with debt. This is primarily due to how debt affects financial metrics and their interpretation by investors.

When examining a company’s earnings, those earnings are calculated net of interest expenses associated with any debt. A company that has 50% debt will have interest expenses that reduce its earnings available to equity holders compared to a company that is entirely equity-financed. This lower net income due to interest payments results in a lower PE ratio since the PE ratio is calculated as the market price per share divided by earnings per share (EPS).

Moreover, a company with 100% equity retains all its earnings for equity holders without any deductions for interest. Higher earnings relative to its price can drive up the PE ratio, reflecting a potentially less risky profile and greater investor confidence. Thus, investors may assign a higher multiple to the earnings of an all-equity firm because it does not carry the financial risk associated with debt, giving that company the characteristic of generally enjoying a higher PE ratio compared to its leveraged counterpart.