It stands for long-term deb/equity ratio; a solvency ratio (also, a leverage ratio) that relates the total amount of an entity’s long-term debt to its shareholders’ equity. It determines how much leverage an entity uses to finance its operations, as part of the total sources of funding.

Long-term debt-to-equity ratio = long-term debt/ equity

This ratio shows how much of an entity’s assets are financed by long-term financial obligations (but not short-term obligations), such as loans.

A higher ratio means an entity finances its capital with more debt, and vice versa.

For example, if an entity has the following items on its balance sheet: long-term liabilities = $40,000, short-term liabilities = $25,000, assets = $100,000, then the long-term debt-to-equity ratio is calculated as follows:

Long-term D/E = $40,000 / ($100,000 – $40,000)
Long-term D/E = $40,000 / $60,000 = 0.666

With a long-term debt-to-equity ratio of 0.666, the entity uses $0.666 of long-term leverage for every $1.00 of equity.

This ratio is also known as a long-term debt to capital ratio.