Acme United Corp key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Acme United Corp had return on equity of 9.1% and a net margin of 5.2%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMJun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 4.1% | 3.8% | 4.2% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 3.1% | 3.3% | 3.9% | 4.9% | 7.5% | 1.6% | 9.3% | 5.2% | 5.2% | 4.6% |
| Return on equity | 10.1% | 10.6% | 12.1% | 12.2% | 12.9% | 11.6% | 13.1% | 8.4% | 9.0% | 10.2% | 13.7% | 19.5% | 3.9% | 20.1% | 9.8% | 9.1% | 8.2% |
| Return on assets | 5.2% | 5.4% | 5.8% | 5.9% | 6.5% | 6.0% | 6.7% | 3.9% | 4.1% | 5.0% | 6.7% | 10.0% | 2.0% | 11.3% | 6.4% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| Effective tax rate | 11.6% | 30.2% | 29.0% | 27.1% | 29.6% | 27.5% | 22.0% | 37.6% | 16.9% | 15.7% | 17.6% | 10.0% | 17.1% | 21.7% | 18.5% | 22.4% | 21.2% |
| R&D as % of revenue | — | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.2% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 32.3% | 30.1% | 28.9% | 29.0% | 28.7% | 29.3% | 29.8% | 30.7% | 31.5% | 30.6% | 29.4% | 28.6% | 29.5% | 30.8% | 32.0% | 31.9% | 33.2% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 25.5% | 27.4% | 30.7% | 18.2% | 22.2% | 25.0% | 22.8% | 34.8% | 32.3% | 29.2% | 19.8% | 13.1% | 62.7% | 11.2% | 22.2% | 23.0% | 24.4% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $112m of assets due within a year against $35m of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $112m short-term assets against $45m of longer-dated liabilities.
- More cash than debt $5m of cash against $23m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 19% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 43% to 19% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $26m of operating cash flow against $23m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $14m against $2m of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Acme United's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 8 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 6.9% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 13 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 36.7%, moving by 1.9 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 10 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 6.4%; its worst year was 4.3%.
- Cash conversion 12 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 9 of 10 years, at a median 5.9% of revenue.
- Discipline 3 / 20
The diluted share count rose 10.5% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 104.9% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (46 before it).
Compare with peers
Head to head: ACU vs LCUTACU vs HELEACU vs NWL
More: Housewares & Specialties stocks compared, Consumer Discretionary sector, rankings of US companies