United States Lime & Minerals
Through the investors’ lenses
2 of 2 cleared7 of 7 criteria
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 4/4
| Measure | USLM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $96.80m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 21.3% | US median 2.8% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.00x | US median 0.57x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 42.4% | US median 3.1% | ✓ |
Passes 4 of 4. These are the measures Warren Buffett published, applied to United States Lime & Minerals’s own figures — their criteria, not their view of this company. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 3/3
| Measure | USLM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 19.27x | 2.00x published | ✓ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 0.00x | 1.00x published | ✓ |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 10 yrs | 10 published | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. These are the measures Benjamin Graham published, applied to United States Lime & Minerals’s own figures — their criteria, not their view of this company. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 5.1% | whyA single year's earnings for a commodity producer can be several times the through-cycle average. This ratio computed in a trough looks alarming and in a peak looks trivial; neither describes whether the dividend is affordable across a cycle. |
| Operating cash flow | 4.2% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 6.7% | whyNets out the capital spending producers cut in downturns — so it flatters a trough year. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 2.6 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 74 / 100 — Adequate. ? Peer standing 48/50Direction 18/30Stability 9/20
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 6.7% |
| 2024-12-31 | 5.8% |
| 2023-12-31 | 7.9% |
| 2022-12-31 | 12.1% |
| 2021-12-31 | 14.0% |
| 2020-12-31 | 8.7% |
95% of the 40 materials here pay out more — comfortable for the sector.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $0.240 ÷ diluted EPS $4.67
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $6.87m ÷ operating cash flow $165m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $6.87m ÷ (operating cash flow $165m − capex $62.7m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-26 · accession 0001104659-26-020480
Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take our word for any of it.
Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell us — that is more useful to us than agreement.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated adequate · when it files.
Who else looks like this
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