Is Teck Resources a Cash King?

As an investor, it pays to follow the cash. If you figure out how a company moves its money, you might eventually find some of that cash flowing into your pockets.

In this series, we'll highlight four big dogs in an industry, and compare their "cash king margins" over time, trying to determine which has the greatest likelihood of putting cash back in your pocket. After all, a company can pay dividends and buy back stock only after it's actually received cash -- not just when it books those accounting figments known as "profits."

The cash king margin
Looking at a company's cash flow statement can help you determine whether its free cash flow actually backs up its reported profit. Companies that can create 10% or more free cash flow from their revenue can be powerful compounding machines for your portfolio.

To find the cash king margin, divide the free cash flow from the cash flow statement by sales:

Cash king margin = Free cash flow / sales

Let's take McDonald's as an example. Over the four quarters ending in March, the restaurateur generated $6.5 billion in operating cash flow. It invested about $2.2 billion in property, plant, and equipment. To calculate free cash flow, subtract McDonald's investment ($2.2 billion) from its operating cash flow ($6.5 billion). That leaves us with $4.3 billion in free cash flow, which the company can save for future expenditures or distribute to shareholders.

Taking McDonald's sales of $24.6 billion over the same period, we can figure that the company has a cash king margin of about 17% -- a nice high number. In other words, for every dollar of sales, McDonald's produces $0.17 in free cash.

Ideally, we'd like to see the cash king margin top 10%. The best blue chips can notch numbers greater than 20%, making them true cash dynamos. But some businesses, including many types of retailing, just can't sustain such margins.

We're also looking for companies that can consistently increase their margins over time, which indicates that their competitive position is improving. Erratic swings in margins could signal a deteriorating business, or perhaps some financial skullduggery; you'll have to dig deeper to discover the reason.

Three companies
Today, let's look at Teck Resources (NYS: TCK) and three of its peers:

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.

Teck Resources, Cliffs Natural Resources, and Walter Energy all exceed our 10% threshold for attractiveness, but Teck's margins are down from where they were five years ago. Cameco has cash king margins in the negatives, and its margins are also down from five years ago. Compare these returns to the blue chips of software and biotech, to get some context.

The cash king margin can help you find highly profitable businesses, but it should only be the start of your search. The ratio does have its limits, especially for fast-growing small businesses. Many such companies reinvest all of their cash flow into growing the business, leaving them little or no free cash -- but that doesn't necessarily make them poor investments. You'll need to look closer to determine exactly how a company is using its cash.

Still, if you can cut through the earnings headlines to follow the cash instead, you might be on the path toward seriously great investments.

At the time thisarticle was published Want to read more about Teck Resources? Add it toMy Watchlist, which will find all of our Foolish analysis on this stock. You can also addCliffs Natural Resources,Cameco,Walter Energy, or any other stock you like.Jim Royal owns shares of McDonald's.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Walter Energy and McDonald's. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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