Elk, Inc. has a debt-to-total-assets ratio of 0.56 and a Return on Sales of 13.4%. The median Return on Sales for similar companies in the same industry as Elk is about 6.3%. The median debt-to-total-assets ratio for similar companies in the same industry is 0.31.

Based on this industry information, how does Elk compare to similar companies and what are the causes of these differences?