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Mueller Industries (Mueller Industries) Free Cash Flow

: $619 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)
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Mueller Industries's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $160 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $619 Mil.

Mueller Industries's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $1.40. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $5.44.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Mueller Industries was -10.30% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 45.00% per year. During the past 5 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 42.40% 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, Mueller Industries's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 59.20% per year. The lowest was -60.70% per year. And the median was 10.90% per year.


Mueller Industries Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Mueller Industries'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.

Mueller Industries 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 169.38 201.19 279.87 686.30 618.74

Mueller Industries 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 198.95 104.06 117.55 237.41 159.72

Mueller Industries 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.

Mueller Industries'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
=672.766+-54.025
=619

Mueller Industries'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
=174.276+-14.556
=160

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 $619 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.


Mueller Industries  (NYSE:MLI) 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, Mueller Industries's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)=Normalized Free Cash Flow/Price+5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
=3.328/47.15+0.2
=27.06 %

* 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.


Mueller Industries Free Cash Flow Related Terms

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


Mueller Industries (Mueller Industries) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
150 Schilling Boulevard, Suite 100, Collierville, TN, USA, 38017
Mueller Industries Inc makes copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products. The company reports three business segments: piping systems, industrial metals, and climate. Piping systems, earning most of the company's revenue, produces tubes, fittings, rods, valves, and other products and operates various firms worldwide. The industrial metals segment manufactures impacts and micro-gauge, brass rod and copper bar products, and brass value-added products. The climate segment produces items used to create temperature-control goods, including valves, twisted tubes, coaxial heat exchangers, and others. Numerous systems use the aforementioned products, including HVAC, water distribution, refrigeration, and automotive. Most sales derive from the United States, but the company operates worldwide.
Executives
Steffen Sigloch officer: VP, Mfg and Engineering 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE, SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
John B Hansen officer: President, Mfg Operations 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Gregory L. Christopher officer: President - Standard Products 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE, SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Scott Jay Goldman director 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE, SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Herzog Charles P Jr director 9581 FOX HILL CIRCLE SOUTH, GERMANTOWN TN 38139
William C. Drummond director 1395 BRICKELL AVENUE, MIAMI FL 33131
Gary S Gladstein director SOROS FUND MANAGEMENT LLC, 888 SEVENTH AVE 3300, NEW YORK NY 10106
Anthony Steinriede officer: VP - Corporate Controller 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE, SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Gary Westermeyer officer: President, Refrigeration 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE, SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Gennaro J Fulvio director
Kristee Michelle Ford officer: Chief Information Officer 581 ROCKY JOE DRIVE, COLLIERVILLE TN 38017
Paul J Flaherty director C/O MUELLER INDUSTRIES INC., 8285 TOURNAMENT DRIVE SUITE 150, MEMPHIS TN 38125
Devin Malone officer: President, Streamline 2321 WICKERSHAM CV, GERMANTOWN TN 38139
Christopher Andrew Mitchell officer: President, Canadian Operations 198 PIONEER TOWER ROAD, KITCHENER A6 N2P 2H8
Elizabeth M Donovan director 400 E OHIO STREET, CHICAGO IL 60611

Mueller Industries (Mueller Industries) Headlines