What is MarkWest Energy Partners LP Free Cash Flow?
MarkWest Energy Partners LP's total free cash flow for the
months ended in Sep. 2015 was
$-193 Mil.
Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Sep. 2015 was $-1,088 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.
MarkWest Energy Partners LP Free Cash Flow Calculation
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.
Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Sep. 2015 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $-1,088 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.
MarkWest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE) 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.
MarkWest Energy Partners LP Free Cash Flow Related Terms
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MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MarkWest Energy Partners LP) Business Description
MarkWest Energy Partners LP a Delaware corporation was formed in Delaware on January 24, 2002. The Company is engaged in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the gathering, transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of NGLs; and the gathering and transportation of crude oil. The Company has presence in many unconventional gas plays including the Marcellus Shale, Utica Shale, Huron/Berea Shale, Haynesville Shale, Woodford Shale and Granite Wash formation. The Company conducts operations in the following operating segments: Marcellus, Utica, Northeast and Southwest. Its primary business is to provide top-tier midstream services by developing and operating high-quality, strategically located assets in the liquids-rich areas of six core natural gas producing resource plays in the United States. The Company provides services in the midstream sector of the natural gas industry. The midstream natural gas industry is the link between the exploration for and production of natural gas and the delivery of its hydrocarbon components to end-use markets. In the Marcellus segment, it provides fully integrated natural gas midstream services in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia through its wholly owned subsidiary, MarkWest Liberty Midstream. The Company operates five processing complexes in its Marcellus segment that include the Houston Complex located in Washington County, Pennsylvania: the Majorsville Complex located in Marshall County, West Virginia; the Mobley Complex located in Wetzel County, West Virginia; the Sherwood Complex located in Doddridge County, West Virginia; and the Keystone Complex located in Butler County, Pennsylvania. In addition, it operates two gathering systems: one currently delivering over 475 MMcf/d of natural gas to its Houston and Majorsville Complexes and the other delivering over 74 MMcf/d of natural gas to its Keystone complex. MarkWest Utica EMG provides gathering, processing, fractionation and marketing services in the liquids-rich corridor of the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio. In each of its operating segments, the company faces competition for natural gas gathering, crude oil transportation and in obtaining natural gas supplies for its processing and related services; in obtaining unprocessed NGLs for gathering and fractionation; and in marketing its products and services. The Company's processing and fractionation plants, pipelines and associated facilities are subject to multiple obligations and potential liabilities under a variety of stringent and comprehensive federal, regional, state and local laws and regulations governing discharges of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to environmental protection.
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