What does interest coverage mean?

How many times the company's operating profit covers its interest bill.

How do you interpret interest coverage?

Higher is safer; below ~2× is a warning that earnings provide little cushion against the debt burden. Debt-free companies have no interest expense and the ratio is left blank.

How does interest coverage compare across companies?

Comparable across leveraged non-financials; less relevant for net-cash companies with negligible interest.

Allstate ALL Interest coverage

Interest coverage at other companies

ProgressivePGR

52.5×+12.7×

The Travelers CompaniesTRV

22.4×+7.9×

Berkshire HathawayBRK.A

18.5×-1.9×

The Hartford Financial Services GroupHIG

26.3×+6.6×

W.R. BerkleyWRB

19.6×+1.0×

Cincinnati FinancialCINF

65.8×+31.3×

Other financials

Income statement

See full

Revenue$16.9B+3.0%

Net income$2.5B+313%

EPS (diluted)$9.25+338%

Balance sheet

See full

Cash & equivalents$697.0M-17.0%

Total debt$7.5B-7.4%

Total equity$31.6B+43.3%

Total assets$123.97B+7.6%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$3.6B+81.4%

CapEx$40.0M-56.5%

Free cash flow$3.5B+88.1%

Valuation

See full

Market cap$57.06B-1.9%

Enterprise value$63.85B-2.4%

P/E4.7×-9.8×

P/S0.8×-0.1×

Profitability

See full

Net margin17.8%+11.6pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity45.2%+25.4pp

Debt / equity0.2×-0.1×

Questions, answered.

What does interest coverage mean?: How many times the company's operating profit covers its interest bill.
How do you interpret interest coverage?: Higher is safer; below ~2× is a warning that earnings provide little cushion against the debt burden. Debt-free companies have no interest expense and the ratio is left blank.
How does interest coverage compare across companies?: Comparable across leveraged non-financials; less relevant for net-cash companies with negligible interest.