Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) — payout ratio, three ways
Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Energy · computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.
| Basis | Payout | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 69.8% | Swings with the commodity, not with the business. A payout ratio for a producer says as much about the oil price in that fiscal year as about the dividend. |
| Operating cash flow | 13.2% | Before capital spending, so it understates the payout that free cash flow shows. |
| Free cash flow | 41.0% | The figure the sector itself watches, and the one most producers set distributions against. Check whether any part of the payout is a variable or special dividend before reading a trend into it. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 57 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $4.00 ÷ diluted EPS $5.73
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $1,156.0m ÷ operating cash flow $8,758.0m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $1,156.0m ÷ (operating cash flow $8,758.0m − capex $5,938.0m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-25 · accession
0001539838-26-000010
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.
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.