Elevance Health, Inc. (ELV) — payout ratio, three ways
Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Health care · computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.
| Basis | Payout | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 27.0% | The figure most screeners publish. |
| Operating cash flow | 35.6% | Worse than the earnings figure, not better: operating cash flow absorbs working capital — inventory, receivables, payables — that earnings do not. |
| Free cash flow | 48.2% | What is left after maintaining the business. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 21 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $6.81 ÷ diluted EPS $25.21
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $1,529.0m ÷ operating cash flow $4,290.0m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $1,529.0m ÷ (operating cash flow $4,290.0m − capex $1,116.0m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-06 · accession
0001156039-26-000013
Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take my word for any of it.
Caveats on this company
- DPS derived from dividends paid ($6.81); no per-share tag filed
Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell me — that is more useful to me than agreement.