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.

The Travelers Companies TRV Interest coverage

Interest coverage at other companies

American International GroupAIG

10.7×+1.1×

W.R. BerkleyWRB

19.6×+1.0×

Cincinnati FinancialCINF

65.8×+31.3×

LoewsL

6×+1.0×

ProgressivePGR

52.5×+12.7×

The Hartford Financial Services GroupHIG

26.3×+6.6×

Other financials

Income statement

See full

Revenue$11.9B+1.0%

Net income$1.7B+333%

EPS (diluted)$7.78+358%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$615.0M-15.1%

Total debt$9.3B+15.4%

Total equity$32.0B+13.5%

Total assets$142.31B+4.7%

Cash flow

See full

Operating cash flow$2.2B+61.6%

Valuation

See full

Market cap$65.08B+5.2%

Enterprise value$73.74B+6.6%

P/E8.6×-5.9×

P/S1.3×0.0×

Profitability

See full

Net margin15.5%+6.5pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity25.3%+9.2pp

Debt / equity0.3×0.0×

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.