Health Net's total free cash flow for the
months ended in Dec. 2015 was
$-153 Mil.
Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2015 was $370 Mil.
Health Net's Free Cash Flow per Share for the
months ended in Dec. 2015 was $-1.96.
Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2015 was $4.71.
The historical data trend for Health Net's Free Cash Flow 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.
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.
Health Net's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2015 is calculated as
Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2015 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $370 Mil.
* 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.
Health Net (NYSE:HNT) Free Cash Flow 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.
* 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.
Health Net Free Cash Flow Related Terms
Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Health Net's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.
Health Net Inc was incorporated in the state of Delaware on 1990. The Company is an integrated managed care organization that delivers managed health care services. The Company's health plans and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits through its health maintenance organizations (HMOs), insured preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and point of service (POS). Its subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to behavioral health and prescription drugs. The Company also owns health and life insurance companies licensed to sell exclusive provider organization (EPO), PPO, POS and indemnity products as well as auxiliary non-health products such as life and accidental death and dismemberment, dental, vision, behavioral health and disability insurance. These products are offered by its health and life insurance subsidiaries, which are licensed to sell insurance in approximately 49 states and the District of Columbia. It operates within three reportable segments: West Operations, Northeast Operations and Government Contracts. The Company's West Operations segment includes the operations of its commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans, the operations of its health and life insurance companies and its behavioral health and pharmaceutical services subsidiaries in Arizona, California and Oregon. The Company offers a full spectrum of managed health care products and services. It offers a range of Medicare products, including Medicare Advantage plans with and without prescription drug coverage, Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plans ('PDP'), and Medicare supplement products that supplement traditional fee-for-service Medicare coverage. Its portfolio of Medicare Advantage plans focuses on simplicity so that members can sign up and use benefits with minimal paperwork and receive coverage that starts immediately upon enrollment. The Company provides ASO products to large employer groups in California. Its Government Contracts segment includes its TRICARE contract for the North Region and other health care-related government contracts that it administers for the U.S. Department of Defense (the 'Department of Defense') and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Certain components of these contracts are subcontracted to unrelated third parties. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Health Net Federal Services, LLC ('HNFS'), administers a large managed care federal contract with the Department of Defense under the TRICARE program in the North Region. The Company maintains a network of qualified physicians, hospitals and other health care providers in each of the states in which it offers network based managed care products and services. It markets its products and services to individuals and employer groups through inside sales staff, independent brokers, agents and consultants and through the Internet. The Company operates in a highly competitive environment in an industry. Its health plans face subst
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