SBA COMMUNICATIONS CORP (SBAC) — payout ratio, four ways
Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Real estate · payout ratios computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.
| Basis | Payout | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 45.5% | What most screeners publish, and badly wrong here — depressed by depreciation on buildings that are not losing value. |
| Operating cash flow | 37.1% | Before capital spending, so it understates the payout that free cash flow shows. |
| Free cash flow | 44.9% | Counts property acquisitions as though they were maintenance. |
| Funds from operations | 42.1% | The basis the real estate industry uses. Adds back depreciation on buildings that are not losing value. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 8 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 65 / 100 — Adequate. ? Peer standing 47/50Direction 4/30Stability 14/20
Funds from operations payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 42.1% |
| 2024-12-31 | 41.6% |
| 2023-12-31 | 30.2% |
| 2022-12-31 | 26.2% |
| 2021-12-31 | 27.0% |
| 2020-12-31 | 27.8% |
Coverage has deteriorated three years running, 26.2% to 42.1%. Still covered, but moving the wrong way.
Among the 47 real estate companies here, 94% pay out a larger share on this basis — this is comfortable for the sector.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $4.45 ÷ diluted EPS $9.80
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $479.0m ÷ operating cash flow $1,291.3m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $479.0m ÷ (operating cash flow $1,291.3m − capex $224.8m)
- Funds from operations — dividends declared per share $4.45 ÷ derived FFO $10.58 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 2026-02-27 · accession
0001034054-26-000002
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 ($4.45); no per-share tag filed
- FFO derived (NAREIT approximation)
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.