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Sterling Infrastructure (Sterling Infrastructure) Free Cash Flow

: $414 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)
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Sterling Infrastructure's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $132 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $414 Mil.

Sterling Infrastructure's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $4.17. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $13.25.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Sterling Infrastructure was 156.40% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 60.80% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 68.50% 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 Free Cash Flow Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

During the past 13 years, Sterling Infrastructure's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 218.20% per year. The lowest was -93.70% per year. And the median was 58.60% per year.


Sterling Infrastructure Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Sterling Infrastructure'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.

* Premium members only.

Sterling Infrastructure Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Free Cash Flow
Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 26.67 90.03 112.28 158.21 414.21

Sterling Infrastructure 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 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 67.87 34.84 107.41 139.72 132.23

Sterling Infrastructure 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.

Sterling Infrastructure's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (A: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=478.584+-64.379
=414

Sterling Infrastructure's Free Cash Flow for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (Q: Dec. 2023 )=Cash Flow from Operations+Capital Expenditure
=147.369+-15.135
=132

Free Cash Flow 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 $414 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.


Sterling Infrastructure  (NAS:STRL) 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.

Therefore, as of Dec23, Sterling Infrastructure's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=5.09009524/87.93+0.2
=25.79 %

* 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.


Sterling Infrastructure Free Cash Flow Related Terms

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


Sterling Infrastructure (Sterling Infrastructure) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
1800 Hughes Landing Boulevard, Suite 250, The Woodlands, TX, USA, 77380
Sterling Infrastructure Inc is a construction company that specializes in heavy civil infrastructure construction and infrastructure rehabilitation as well as residential construction projects. The company operates in three reportable segments namely, Transportation Solutions, E-Infrastructure Solutions, and Building Solution. Transportation Solutions include highways, roads, bridges, airfields, ports, light rail, and others. Building Solution projects include concrete foundations for single-family homes. E-Infrastructure Solutions include the services which are provided to large, blue-chip companies in the e-commerce, data center, distribution center, and warehousing, energy, mixed-use, and multi-family sectors. The majority of the revenue is generated from E-Infrastructure Solutions. .
Executives
Ronald A Ballschmiede officer: EVP & CFO 1800 HUGHES LANDING BLVD, SUITE 250, THE WOODLANDS TX 77380
Mark D. Wolf officer: General Counsel, Corporate Sec 770 SOUTH POST OAK LANE, SUITE 405, C/O U.S. WELL SERVICES, INC., HOUSTON TX 77056
Joseph A Cutillo officer: Chief Executive Officer 1800 HUGHES LANDING BLVD, SUITE 250, THE WOODLANDS TX 77380
Julie Dill director 1301 RIVERPLACE BOULEVARD, SUITE 2300, JACKSONVILLE FL 32207
Dwayne Andree Wilson director 6700 LAS COLINAS BOULEVARD, IRVING TX 75039
Roger A Cregg director 100 BLOOMFIELD HILL PARKWAY, STE 300, BLOOMFIELD HILLS MI 48304
Raymond F Messer director 1800 HUGHES LANDING BLVD., SUITE 250, THE WOODLANDS TX 77380
Dana C. O'brien director 1111 LOUISIANA STREET, HOUSTON TX 77002
Thomas M White director C/O APOLLO MANAGEMENT, 9 WEST 57TH STREET, 43RD FLOOR, NEW YORK NY 10019
Marian M Davenport director 1800 HUGHES LANDING BLVD., SUITE 250, THE WOODLANDS TX 77380
Milton L Scott director
Charles R. Patton director 1 RIVERSIDE PLAZA, COLUMBUS OH 43215
Richard O Schaum director 388 WARREN COURT, BIRMINGHAM MI 48009
Craig B Allen officer: SVP & CHRO/CCO 1800 HUGHES LANDING BLVD, STE 250, THE WOODLANDS TX 77380
Wadsworth Con L officer: EVP & Chief Operating Officer 1800 HUGHES LANDING BLVD, SUITE 250, THE WOODLANDS TX 77380