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.

Chimera Investment Corp. CIM Interest coverage

Interest coverage at other companies

Annaly Capital ManagementNLY

1.4×+0.3×

PennyMac Mortgage Investment TrustPMT

1.1×0.0×

New York Mortgage TrustADAM

0.4×+0.3×

EFC

Ellington Financial Inc.EFC

1.5×+0.1×

Two Harbors Investment CorporationTWO

0.2×-0.9×

Blackstone Mortgage TrustBXMT

1.1×—

Other financials

Income statement

See full

Revenue$219.3M+15.0%

Net income-$43.9M-126%

EPS (diluted)-$0.78-144%

Balance sheet

See full

Cash & equivalents$483.0M+90.7%

Total debt$252.0M+86.8%

Total equity$2.5B-6.8%

Total assets$16.0B+21.0%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$243.3M+399%

Valuation

See full

Market cap$1.11B+0.8%

Enterprise value$879.83M-11.3%

P/E57.6×+52.4×

P/S1.3×-0.1×

Profitability

See full

Net margin2.3%-25.7pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity0.8%-7.3pp

Debt / equity0.1×+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.