Quotes from Legends: Debt to Equity

This should generally be lower than 50%. Some analysts avoid recommending stocks if debt to equity ratio is above 70%.

Pg 39: Look for companies that create high return on equity with minimal debt.
The Essential Buffett by Robert G Hagstrom, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Pg 273: It's a very sad thing. You can have somebody whose aggregate performance is terrific, but if they have a weakness, maybe it's with alcohol, maybe it's susceptibility to taking a little easy money, it's the weak link that snaps you. And frequently, in the financial markets, the weak link is borrowed money.
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein, Doubleday.

Pg 33: .....check the percentage of the firm's total capitalization represented by long-term debt or bonds. Usually the lower the debt ratio, the safer and better the company.
.....A corporation that has been reducing its debt as a percent of equity over the last two or three years is well worth considering.
How to Make Money in Stocks by William J O'Neil, McGraw Hill.

Pg 114: Each company selected should be large, prominent, and conservatively financed. Indefinite as these adjectives must be, their general sense is clear.
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham updated with new commentary by Jason Zweig.

Pg 59: This debt-to-equity ratio is a common measure of a company's risk level. Debt financing (also called leverage) is considered riskier than financing with stockholders' equity because the interest payments on debt must be made every period (they are legal obligations), whereas dividends on stock can be postponed if (the company) has a bad year.
Financial Accounting by Libby, Libby and Short, Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

Pg 201: A normal corporate balance sheet has 75 percent equity and 25 percent debt......A week balance sheet, on the other hand, might have 80 percent debt and 20 percent equity. Among turnaround and troubled companies, I pay special attention to the debt factor. More than anything else, it's debt that determines which companies will survive and which will go bankrupt in a crisis. Young companies with heavy debt are always at risk.
One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch with John Rothchild, Penguin.

Guru Acknowledgements xxvii-xxviii: John Buckingham is president and chief portfolio manger of money manager Al Frank Asset Management, and editor of the Prudent Speculator newsletter. Buckingham follows classic investment strategies, buying underpriced firms with long-term track records and holding them as long as it takes.....He prefers firms with plenty of cash in the bank, strong cash flow, and low debt. Buckingham favors the price/sales ratio to measure value.
Thatcher Thomson is a Merrill Lynch analyst specializing in the business services sector. Factors he considers important are revenue visibility, a company's position vis a vis the competition, sales growth and earnings growth, margins, cash flow versus net income, and low debt. Thompson's red flags include negative earnings surprises and/or reduction in guidance, departure of the CFO, growth by acquisition combined with declining margins, or declining cash flow combined with rising receivables.
Fire Your Stock Analyst! Analysing Stocks On Your Own by Harry Domash, FT Prentice Hall.