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.

Loews L Interest coverage

Interest coverage at other companies

The Travelers CompaniesTRV

22.4×+7.9×

ChubbCB

19.4×+4.3×

Marriott InternationalMAR

5.1×-0.2×

Cincinnati FinancialCINF

65.8×+31.3×

Citizens Financial GroupCFG

1.7×+0.2×

W.R. BerkleyWRB

19.6×+1.0×

Other financials

Income statement

See full

Revenue$4.6B+1.4%

Net income$337.0M-8.9%

EPS (diluted)$1.63-6.3%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$843.0M+50.5%

Total debt$8.9B-0.1%

Total equity$18.7B+8.8%

Total assets$85.7B+3.0%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$72.0M-90.2%

CapEx$204.0M+108%

Free cash flow-$132.0M-121%

Valuation

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Market cap$22.07B+13.4%

Enterprise value$30.17B+8.3%

P/E13.5×-1.2×

P/S1.2×+0.1×

Profitability

See full

Gross margin92.8%—

Net margin8.8%+1.4pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity9.1%+1.2pp

Debt / equity0.5×0.0×

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.