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CF Industries Holdings (CF Industries Holdings) Free Cash Flow per Share

: $11.59 (TTM As of Dec. 2023)
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CF Industries Holdings's Free Cash Flow per Share for the three months ended in Dec. 2023 was $1.52. Its Free Cash Flow per Share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $11.59.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of CF Industries Holdings was -29.90% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 39.50% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 30.10% per year. Please click Growth Rate Calculation Example (GuruFocus) to see how GuruFocus calculates Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)'s revenue growth rate. You can apply the same method to get the FCF Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

The historical rank and industry rank for CF Industries Holdings's Free Cash Flow per Share or its related term are showing as below:

CF' s 3-Year FCF Growth Rate Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -8.8   Med: 39.5   Max: 92.5
Current: 39.5

During the past 13 years, CF Industries Holdings's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 92.50% per year. The lowest was -8.80% per year. And the median was 39.50% per year.

CF's 3-Year FCF Growth Rate is ranked better than
75.76% of 165 companies
in the Agriculture industry
Industry Median: 11.1 vs CF: 39.50

CF Industries Holdings Free Cash Flow per Share Historical Data

The historical data trend for CF Industries Holdings's Free Cash Flow per Share can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

CF Industries Holdings Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Free Cash Flow per Share
Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4.97 4.28 10.87 16.62 11.64

CF Industries Holdings Quarterly Data
Mar19 Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23
Free Cash Flow per Share Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 2.29 4.46 3.16 2.44 1.52

Competitive Comparison

For the Agricultural Inputs subindustry, CF Industries Holdings's Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow, along with its competitors' market caps and Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


CF Industries Holdings Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow Distribution

For the Agriculture industry and Basic Materials sector, CF Industries Holdings's Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where CF Industries Holdings's Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow falls into.



CF Industries Holdings Free Cash Flow per Share Calculation

Free Cashflow per Share is the amount of Free Cashflow per outstanding share of the company's stock.

Free Cash Flow is considered one of the most important parameters to measure a company's earnings power by value investors because it is not subject to estimates of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization (DDA). However, when we look at the Free Cash Flow, we should look from a long term perspective, because any year's Free Cash Flow can be drastically affected by the spending on Property, Plant, & Equipment (PPE) of the business in that year. Over the long term, Free Cash Flow should give pretty good picture on the real earnings power of the company.

Note: GuruFocus does not calculate Free Cash Flow Per Share when Capital Expenditure is 0.

CF Industries Holdings's Free Cash Flow Per Share for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow Per Share(A: Dec. 2023 )
=(Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure)/Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average)
=(2757+-501)/193.800
=2256/193.800
=11.64

CF Industries Holdings's Free Cash Flow Per Share for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow Per Share(Q: Dec. 2023 )
=(Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure)/Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average)
=(480+-190)/190.500
=290/190.500
=1.52

Free Cash Flow per Share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $11.59

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


CF Industries Holdings  (NYSE:CF) Free Cash Flow per Share Explanation

Free Cash Flow is very close to Warren Buffett's definition of Owner's Earnings, except that in Warren Buffett's Owner's Earnings, the spending for Property, Plant, and Equipment is only for maintenance (replacement), while in the Free Cash Flow calculation, the cost of new Property, Plant, and Equipment due to business expansion is also deducted. There, Free Cash Flow is more conservative than Owner's Earnings.

In Don Yacktman's calculation of forward rate of return, he uses Free Cash Flow for the calculation. Yacktman explained the forward rate of return concept in detail in his interview with GuruFocus. Yacktman defines forward rate of return as the normalized free cash flow yield plus real growth plus inflation.

This is what Yacktman said in his March 2012 interview - when the S&P 500 was at 1400:

If the business is stable, this calculation is fairly straightforward. For instance, on the S&P 500 we would normalize earnings. We would then calculate what percentage of those earnings are not reinvested in the underlying businesses and are therefore free. Historically, for the S&P 500, this has been just under 50% of earnings. Currently, we expect the S&P to earn about 70 on a normalized basis, a number which is far below reported earnings due to our adjusting for record high profit margins. $70 X ½ / 1400 gives you a normalized free cash flow yield of approximately 2.5%.

The historical real growth rate of the S&P 500 (companies) is about 1.5%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%, the forward rate of return on an investment in the S&P 500 is about 6.5% today (2.5% free cash flow yield plus 1.5% real growth plus 2.5% inflation).

For the growth part of the Forward Rate of Return calculation, GuruFocus uses the 5-year average growth rate of EBITDA per share as the growth rate, and the growth rate is always capped at 20%. For the Free Cash Flow we use per share data averaged over seven years. The reason we use seven years is because research shows that seven years is the length of the typical business cycle.

Therefore, as of Dec23, CF Industries Holdings's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=9.27790476/79.5+0.2
=31.67 %

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Be Aware

Free Cash Flow within a report period can be affected by management's decisions of capital spending. Therefore, it is important to look at long term when it comes to Free Cash Flow.


CF Industries Holdings Free Cash Flow per Share Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of CF Industries Holdings's Free Cash Flow per Share provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


CF Industries Holdings (CF Industries Holdings) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
4 Parkway North, Suite 400, Deerfield, IL, USA, 60015
CF Industries is a leading producer and distributor of nitrogen, which is primarily used in fertilizers. The company operates nitrogen manufacturing plants primarily in North America. CF also produces nitrogen in the United Kingdom and holds a joint venture interest in a nitrogen production facility in Trinidad and Tobago. CF makes nitrogen primarily using low-cost U.S. natural gas as its feedstock, making CF one of the lowest-cost nitrogen producers globally. The company is also investing in carbon-free blue and green ammonia, which can be used an alternative fuel to hydrogen or as a means to transport hydrogen.
Executives
Bert A Frost officer: VP, Sales and Mkt Development C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, SUITE 400, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Susan A Ellerbusch director C/O SUMMIT MATERIALS, INC., 1550 WYNKOOP STREET, 3RD FLOOR, DENVER CO 80202
Douglas C Barnard officer: VP, General Counsel, Secretary C/O CF INDUSTRIES, INC., ONE SALEM LAKE DRIVE, LONG GROVE IL 60047
Michael Patrick Mcgrane officer: VP, Gen. Counsel & Secretary C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Anne P Noonan director 25435 HARVARD RD, BEACHWOOD OH 44122
Christopher D Bohn officer: VP, Supply Chain C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, SUITE 400, DEERFIELD IL 60015
W Anthony Will officer: VP, Corporate Development C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, SUITE 400, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Richard A Hoker officer: VP and Corporate Controller C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, SUITE 400, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Ashraf K Malik officer: Sr. VP, Manufacturing & D'istn C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, SUITE 400, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Stephen A Furbacher director 1000 LOUISIANA ST, STE 5800, HOUSTON TX 77002
Susan L Menzel officer: Sr. VP, Human Resources C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., FOUR PARKWAY NORTH, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Robert C Arzbaecher director ACTUANT CORP, 13000 WEST SILVER SPRING DRIVE, BUTLER WI 53007
Yris Jesus Madrazo director C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, DEERFIELD IL 60015
Deborah L Dehaas director 3005 HIGHLAND PARKWAY, SUITE 200, DOWNERS GROVE IL 60515
David P Hopkins officer: Managing Dir. CF Fert. UK C/O CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC., 4 PARKWAY NORTH, SUITE 400, DEERFIELD IL 60015