GURUFOCUS.COM » STOCK LIST » Healthcare » Healthcare Providers & Services » National Research Corp (NAS:NRC) » Definitions » Free Cash Flow

National Research (National Research) Free Cash Flow : $22.3 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)


View and export this data going back to 1997. Start your Free Trial

What is National Research Free Cash Flow?

National Research's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $7.9 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $22.3 Mil.

National Research's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $0.32. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $0.91.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of National Research was -14.20% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was -14.10% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was -6.10% per year. During the past 10 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 4.80% 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, National Research's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 53.80% per year. The lowest was -28.90% per year. And the median was 2.40% per year.


National Research Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for National Research'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.

National Research Free Cash Flow Chart

National Research Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Free Cash Flow
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 36.26 36.65 40.83 26.43 22.33

National Research 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 Get a 7-Day Free Trial 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 6.14 4.55 4.50 5.35 7.94

National Research 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.

National Research'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
=38.113+-15.779
=22.3

National Research'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
=11.708+-3.77
=7.9

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 $22.3 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.


National Research  (NAS:NRC) 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, National Research's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=1.30114286/39.56+0.0313
=6.42 %

* 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.


National Research Free Cash Flow Related Terms

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


National Research (National Research) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
N/A
Address
1245 Q Street, Lincoln, NE, USA, 68508
National Research Corp is a provider of analytics and insights that facilitate measurement and improvement of the patient and employee experience while also increasing patient engagement and customer loyalty for healthcare providers, payers, and other healthcare organizations. Its portfolio of solutions represents a set of capabilities that individually and collectively provide value to clients. The solutions are offered at an enterprise level through the Voice of the Customer platform, The Governance Institute, and legacy Experience solutions. It operates in the United States and Canada, of which key revenue is derived from the United States.
Executives
Amandla Mk Trust 10 percent owner C/O THE BRYN MAWR TRUST COMPANY OF DELAW, 20 MONTCHANIN RD, SUITE 100, GREENVILLE DE 19807
Common Property Trust 10 percent owner 709 PIER 2, LINCOLN NE 68528
Parul Bhandari director 1775 I STREET NW, SUITE 910, WASHINGTON DC 20006
Stephen H Lockhart director C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508
Penny Ann Wheeler director C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508
Donald M Berwick director C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508
Jona S Raasch officer: Vice President and COO
Kevin R Karas officer: SVP Finance, CFO, Treas & Secy C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508
Michael & Karen Hays Grandchildren's Trust Dated March 9, 2009 10 percent owner C/O BESSEMER TRUST COMPANY OF DELAWARE, 1007 N. ORANGE ST., SUITE 1450, WILMINGTON DE 19801
Joann M Martin director 6221 ANDREW COURT, LINCOLN NE 68512
Helen Hrdy officer: Chief Growth Officer C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508
Steven D. Jackson officer: President C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508
John N Nunnelly director P.O. BOX 2175, AMHERST MA 01004
Barbara Mowry director P.O. BOX 103115, DENVER CO 80250
Michael Hays director, 10 percent owner, officer: President and CEO C/O NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION, 1245 Q STREET, LINCOLN NE 68508