Lineage
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 2/4
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $48.00m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | -1.2% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.74x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 3.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 4. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 1/3
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 1.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Operating margin | 3.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.74x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 0/3
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 1.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Return on equity | -1.2% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Operating margin | 3.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 1/2
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | -1.2% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.74x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 0/3
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 3.4% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Net margin | -1.9% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
| Return on capital employed | 1.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 1/2
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 0.80x | median 1.25x | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.74x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 0/1
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 0.80x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | — | 1.00x published | — |
Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 0/1
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | 1.3% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 1/2
| Measure | LINE | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 0.74x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Net margin | -1.9% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Lineage. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | negative | whyLost $0.430 per share — no earnings to pay from. |
| Operating cash flow | 56.9% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 274.0% | whyCounts property acquisitions as though they were maintenance. |
| Funds from operations | 62.3% | whyThe industry's basis — adds that depreciation back. |
217 points between highest and lowest basis.
Coverage rating 41 / 100 — Tight. ? Peer standing 41/50Direction 0/30Stability 0/20
Against its own history: 62.3% this year vs 29.3% median over the prior 3. A gap this size is usually a one-off — acquisition, settlement, cyclical trough — not a dividend that stopped being funded. The rating reads the latest year; the table shows the trend.
Funds from operations payout, last 4 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 62.3% |
| 2024-12-31 | 78.3% |
| 2023-12-31 | 12.9% |
| 2022-12-31 | 29.3% |
83% of the 46 real estate here pay out more — comfortable for the sector.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $2.11 ÷ diluted EPS $-0.430
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $537m ÷ operating cash flow $943m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $537m ÷ (operating cash flow $943m − capex $747m)
- Funds from operations — dividends declared per share $2.11 ÷ derived FFO $3.39 per share
- FFO built NAREIT-style: net income, plus real-estate depreciation, less gains on sale, over weighted-average diluted shares
- This is an approximation. Every REIT defines its own adjusted variant in the filing text, so it will not match the earnings release exactly
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-25 · accession 0001868159-26-000012
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Caveats on this company
- FFO derived (NAREIT approximation)
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the funds from operations payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated tight · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Lineage files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.