MRSH · Financials(insurance agents, brokers & service) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
Marsh & Mclennan Companies, Inc. reported revenue of $27.0 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 5.5% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 16.1% in 2019 to 23.1%, and it earned 13.6% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $26.6 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 62.0% went to acquisitions and 32.0% to dividends; the share count fell 3.3%. On the accounting screens, it passes 6 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 2.86 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202527.0B+5.5% a year over 9 years
Operating margin23.1%gross margin —
Return on invested capital13.6%14.3% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay4.6B17.1% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA2.6×net debt 16.9B
Piotroski F-score6/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
010.0B20.0B30.0B
2019Revenue 16.7BOperating income 2.7B
2020Revenue 17.2BOperating income 3.1B
2021
2021
2021
2021Revenue 19.8BOperating income 4.3B
2022Revenue 20.7BOperating income 4.3B
2023Revenue 22.7BOperating income 5.3B
2024Revenue 24.5BOperating income 5.8B
2025Revenue 27.0BOperating income 6.2B
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+9.2%
—
+5.5%
Operating income
+13.3%
—
+9.8%
Net income
+10.9%
—
+10.2%
Earnings per share
+11.7%
—
+10.6%
Free cash flow per share
+19.5%
—
+11.5%
Dividend per share
+15.1%
—
+7.9%
Shares
-0.7%
—
-0.4%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%
2019Operating 16.1%Net 10.5%Free cash flow 11.7%
2020Operating 17.8%Net 11.7%Free cash flow 17.6%
2021
2021
2021
2021Operating 21.8%Net 15.9%Free cash flow 15.7%
2022Operating 20.7%Net 14.7%Free cash flow 14.5%
2023Operating 23.2%Net 16.5%Free cash flow 16.9%
2024Operating 23.8%Net 16.6%Free cash flow 16.3%
2025Operating 23.1%Net 15.4%Free cash flow 18.5%
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
Return on invested capital
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 6.7%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2019Return on invested capital 9.8%
2020Return on invested capital 10.9%
2021
2021
2021
2021Return on invested capital 14.7%
2022Return on invested capital 14.6%
2023Return on invested capital 15.5%
2024Return on invested capital 13.1%
2025Return on invested capital 13.6%
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
01.0B2.0B3.0B
2019Economic profit 614.9M
2020Economic profit 869.8M
2021
2021
2021
2021Economic profit 1.8B
2022Economic profit 1.7B
2023Economic profit 2.3B
2024Economic profit 2.1B
2025Economic profit 2.4B
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
27.2%
Return on assets
7.1%
Asset turnover
0.46×
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
02.0B4.0B6.0B
2019Net income 1.7BFree cash flow 1.9BAfter stock-based pay 1.7B
2020Net income 2.0BFree cash flow 3.0BAfter stock-based pay 2.7B
2021
2021
2021
2021Net income 3.1BFree cash flow 3.1BAfter stock-based pay 2.8B
2022Net income 3.0BFree cash flow 3.0BAfter stock-based pay 2.6B
2023Net income 3.8BFree cash flow 3.8BAfter stock-based pay 3.5B
2024Net income 4.1BFree cash flow 4.0BAfter stock-based pay 3.6B
2025Net income 4.2BFree cash flow 5.0BAfter stock-based pay 4.6B
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2019–2025
26.6B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 10%2.7B
Acquisitions 62%16.5B
Dividends 32%8.5B
Share buybacks 29%7.7B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -33%-8.7B
Over the same years it paid 2.4B in stock. The share count fell 3.3%. 5.3B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$5.00$10.00$15.00
2019Earnings per share $3.41Free cash flow per share $3.80Dividend per share $1.74
2020Earnings per share $3.94Free cash flow per share $5.93Dividend per share $1.84
2021
2021
2021
2021Earnings per share $6.13Free cash flow per share $6.06Dividend per share $2.00
2022Earnings per share $6.04Free cash flow per share $5.93Dividend per share $2.25
2023Earnings per share $7.53Free cash flow per share $7.70Dividend per share $2.60
2024Earnings per share $8.19Free cash flow per share $8.04Dividend per share $3.05
2025Earnings per share $8.42Free cash flow per share $10.12Dividend per share $3.44
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
490.0M495.0M500.0M505.0M510.0M515.0M
2019Diluted shares 511.0M
2020Diluted shares 512.0M
2021
2021
2021
2021Diluted shares 513.0M
2022Diluted shares 505.0M
2023Diluted shares 499.0M
2024Diluted shares 496.0M
2025Diluted shares 494.0M
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
05.0B10.0B15.0B20.0B
2019Net debt 10.8B
2020Net debt 9.2B
2021
2021
2021
2021Net debt 9.2B
2022Net debt 10.1B
2023Net debt 10.1B
2024Net debt 17.5B
2025Net debt 16.9B
2019202020212021202120212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
2.6×
Interest coverage
6× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
1.10 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 104d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
6of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✓Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellpassed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
2.86safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.04 × 6.56+0.24
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.47 × 3.26+1.54
Operating income ÷ assets 0.11 × 6.72+0.71
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.35 × 1.05+0.37
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.50below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 0.97+0.89
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 1.00+0.40
Sales growth 1.10+0.98
Slower depreciation 0.99+0.11
Overheads vs sales 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.02-0.09
Leverage rising 0.97-0.32
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$200.46discounted at 6.7% a year · 69% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
23.8×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
17.6×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
4.3×
Free cash flow yield
4.7%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today36.3B
Everything after, today79.6B
The whole business115.9B
Minus net debt-16.9B
What belongs to shareholders99.0B
Divided among 494.0M shares: <strong>$200.46</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2019Reported 1.7B
2020Reported 2.7B
2021
2021
2021
2021Reported 2.8B
2022Reported 2.6B
2023Reported 3.5B
2024Reported 3.6B
2025Reported 4.6B
2026Projected 4.0B
2027Projected 4.3B
2028Projected 4.6B
2029Projected 4.9B
2030Projected 5.2B
2031Projected 5.4B
2032Projected 5.7B
2033Projected 5.9B
2034Projected 6.1B
2035Projected 6.2B
2019202120212022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
29.1B
31.3B
33.4B
35.5B
37.4B
39.3B
41.0B
42.5B
43.8B
44.9B
Growth
8.0%
7.4%
6.8%
6.2%
5.6%
4.9%
4.3%
3.7%
3.1%
2.5%
Cash margin
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
13.8%
Free cash flow
4.0B
4.3B
4.6B
4.9B
5.2B
5.4B
5.7B
5.9B
6.1B
6.2B
Worth today
3.8B
3.8B
3.8B
3.8B
3.7B
3.7B
3.6B
3.5B
3.4B
3.3B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
5.7%
209
238
276
328
403
6.2%
182
205
233
270
321
6.7%
161
179
200
228
265
7.2%
143
157
175
196
224
7.7%
128
140
154
171
192
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
11.1%
130
144
160
177
196
12.4%
146
163
180
199
220
13.8%
163
181
200
221
244
15.2%
180
199
221
243
268
16.6%
196
218
241
265
292
All the inputs moving at once
4,978 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.1%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$128.31
Median$200.31
90th percentile$338.79
$200.00$400.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$158.58</b> and <b>$260.31</b>; one in ten below $128.31, one in ten above $338.79.
Does the long run make sense?
13.9×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 13.9 times that year's EBITDA.
12%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 22% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 12% on the new capital — it has earned 14% on average over the last five years.
69%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.