What does free cash flow margin mean?

How much real, spendable cash each sales dollar generates after reinvestment.

How do you interpret free cash flow margin?

A high and rising FCF margin is the hallmark of a cash-generative business. Persistent gaps between net margin and FCF margin warrant a look at working capital or capital intensity.

How does free cash flow margin compare across companies?

Strong cross-company quality signal; capital-light compounders post structurally higher FCF margins than asset-heavy peers.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions ZWS Free cash flow margin

Discontinued — last reported Q4 '14

Free cash flow margin at other companies

PentairPNR

17%-1.7pp

MascoMAS

12.3%+1.3pp

A. O. SmithAOS

17%+6.3pp

Watts Water Technologies, Inc.WTS

12.4%-2.6pp

XylemXYL

10.6%+0.3pp

VeraltoVLTO

18.6%+2.3pp

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$433.0M+11.4%

Gross profit$205.8M+13.7%

Operating income$82.1M+29.5%

Net income$58.9M+35.1%

EPS (diluted)$0.35+34.6%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$273.5M+89.0%

Total debt$552.2M-0.8%

Total equity$1.6B+3.8%

Total assets$2.7B+2.9%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$46.1M+7.5%

CapEx$2.3M-69.7%

Free cash flow$22.3M-76.1%

Valuation

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Market cap$8.34B+35.0%

Enterprise value$8.62B+30.3%

P/E39.1×+2.6×

P/S4.8×+0.9×

Profitability

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Gross margin45.4%0.0pp

Operating margin17.1%+1.0pp

Net margin12.3%+1.5pp

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity13.5%+2.8pp

Debt / equity0.3×0.0×

Current ratio3.2×+0.4×

Where this comes from

Calculated from Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s reported figures.

free cash flow/total revenue=6.8%

Based on trailing twelve months.

The official record: Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s 10-Q, filed February 2, 2016, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

Questions, answered.

What does free cash flow margin mean?: How much real, spendable cash each sales dollar generates after reinvestment.
How do you interpret free cash flow margin?: A high and rising FCF margin is the hallmark of a cash-generative business. Persistent gaps between net margin and FCF margin warrant a look at working capital or capital intensity.
How does free cash flow margin compare across companies?: Strong cross-company quality signal; capital-light compounders post structurally higher FCF margins than asset-heavy peers.