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Calculate dividend coverage from cash-flow inputs

Enter matching-period operating cash flow, capital expenditure and dividends to inspect a simple coverage calculation.

This calculator asks a narrow question: under a stated cash-flow definition, how does the period's available amount compare with cash dividends? It uses numbers you enter, not live company data or forecasts.

Use the same company, reporting period, currency and unit for every input. Enter capital expenditure and dividends as positive outflow amounts. Check the sign in the original filing before copying a cash-flow statement value.

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Make the definition visible

The simplified free cash flow used here is operating cash flow minus capital expenditure. Coverage is that result divided by cash dividends. For example, 500 minus 140 leaves 360; against 200 of dividends, the coverage arithmetic is 1.8 times. All four figures could be in millions, provided the unit is consistent.

MeasureCalculation
Simplified free cash flowOperating cash flow minus capital expenditure
Dividend coverageSimplified free cash flow divided by dividends
Zero dividendsA coverage ratio is not defined

Read the result within its limits

The SEC explains that free cash flow lacks a uniform definition and should not imply that every remaining amount is freely available for discretionary use. Debt service and other obligations can remain. A historical ratio therefore does not guarantee the next dividend, establish a fair share price or tell you to buy.

Stock Screener supplies filing-based screens and separate dividend checks in its iPhone app. The web tool is a manual arithmetic aid, with no account connection, company search or portfolio transfer. Keep your input source and period beside an exported or copied result so another reader can reproduce it.

Questions, answered

What does coverage above one prove?

Only that the chosen numerator exceeds dividends under these inputs. It does not prove that a dividend is safe or will continue.

Can I mix quarterly cash flow with annual dividends?

No. Align the reporting period, company, unit and currency before calculating. Otherwise the ratio does not answer a consistent question.

Sources & method

Reviewed:

Keep going in Stock Screener

Screen US and Borsa Istanbul companies using reported financials. · Compare companies and inspect quarter-by-quarter figures. · Review dividend coverage checks and declared dividend dates.

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Keep exploring

01 / Read the guide

Read a dividend coverage check without turning it into a promise

Separate cash coverage, profit coverage and historical dividend behavior when reviewing a company.

Read the guide ↗02 / Read the guide

Compare companies from filings on a like-for-like basis

Align period, currency, units and metric definitions before ranking financial results.

Read the guide ↗03 / Read the guide

Build a fundamental stock screen you can explain

Turn one research question into a few visible rules, then inspect the companies that pass and those excluded by missing data.

Read the guide ↗

Use one reporting period and consistent signs

Enter operating cash flow, capital expenditure as a nonnegative magnitude, and cash dividends paid for the same period and in the same currency unit. This worksheet defines free cash flow as operating cash flow minus that capital-expenditure magnitude, then compares it with dividends paid.

A cash-flow statement may display capital expenditure or dividends as negative outflows. Convert those outflows to the magnitudes requested by the labels before entering them. Mixing a quarterly cash flow with an annual dividend total produces a mathematically valid but economically inconsistent comparison.

Interpret the arithmetic in context

Zero dividends have no finite dividend-coverage ratio. Negative or weak cash flow needs to be read with the company’s actual statements and definitions. The result does not verify a filing, forecast a dividend, measure a live yield or recommend an investment.

Method and reference context

Use manually entered measurements with consistent reporting periods and units. Growth rates are decimal fractions: 0.2 means 20%. Meeting a criterion is not an investment recommendation. This tool has no live market feed.

Calculate cash dividend coverage

Inputs

Your currency unit, same period
Your currency unit, same period
Your currency unit, same period

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Results