PJT Partners Inc. (PJT) — payout ratio, two ways
Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Financial services · payout ratios computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.
| Basis | Payout | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | 4.7% | Before capital spending, so it understates the payout that free cash flow shows. |
| Free cash flow | 5.1% | What is left after maintaining the business. |
No GAAP earnings figure is shown. This company does not report the inputs for it in its XBRL filings — capital expenditure, in particular, is often folded into a single investing total rather than tagged on its own. The figure is absent from the filings, not zero, and inventing one from a balance-sheet movement would be a guess dressed as a measurement.
All bases agree, within a percentage point. No denominator flatters this dividend more than another; there is nothing here that a single headline figure would hide.
Coverage rating 62 / 100 — Adequate. ? Peer standing 44/50Direction 18/30Stability 0/20
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 5.1% |
| 2024-12-31 | 4.6% |
| 2023-12-31 | 5.6% |
| 2022-12-31 | 10.3% |
| 2021-12-31 | 66.3% |
| 2020-12-31 | 1.0% |
Among the 24 financial services companies here, 88% pay out a larger share on this basis — this is comfortable for the sector.
The arithmetic
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $24.5m ÷ operating cash flow $526.3m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $24.5m ÷ (operating cash flow $526.3m − capex $45.9m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-26 · accession
0001193125-26-076969
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.