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.

MFA Financial MFA 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×

Ladder CapitalLADR

1.3×-0.2×

Angel Oak MortgageAOMR

1.2×—

EFC

Ellington Financial Inc.EFC

1.5×+0.1×

Other financials

Income statement

See full

Revenue$191.9M+6.3%

Net income-$984.0K-102%

EPS (diluted)-$0.11-135%

Balance sheet

See full

Cash & equivalents$221.6M-12.7%

Total debt$16.2M-60.7%

Total equity$1.8B-3.2%

Total assets$13.2B+14.8%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$71.1M+588%

Valuation

See full

Market cap$968.21M-7.0%

Enterprise value$762.88M-8.0%

P/E7.2×-0.4×

P/S1.3×-0.2×

Profitability

See full

Net margin17.8%-1.1pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity7.4%+0.1pp

Debt / equity0×0.0×

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.