What is a cash flow waterfall?

A cash flow waterfall is a bar chart that walks from operating cash flow through capital expenditure to free cash flow, then shows how the remaining cash is allocated — acquisitions, buybacks, dividends, debt, and other financing — ending at the net change in cash. Each step is colour-coded: green bars add to the running total, red bars subtract.

How does National Fuel Gas (NFG) spend its free cash flow?

For TTM through Q1 2026, National Fuel Gas generated $1.28B of operating cash flow and $307M of free cash flow — a free cash flow margin of 23.9% of operating cash flow. The waterfall breaks down how the remaining cash was allocated across investing and financing activities.

How much did National Fuel Gas (NFG) return via buybacks and dividends?

The waterfall shows buybacks (share repurchases) and dividends paid as separate steps in the financing section. Together these represent National Fuel Gas's shareholder returns for TTM through Q1 2026. You can compare these against free cash flow to assess the capital-return payout ratio.

National Fuel Gas (NFG) Cash Flow Waterfall

Operating CF

$1.28B

Capex

-$977M

Free Cash Flow

$307M

FCF Margin

+23.9%

Cash flow waterfall for National Fuel Gas (NFG) — TTM through Q1 2026

Free cash flow: $307M

Cash flow breakdown for National Fuel Gas (NFG) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Operating Cash Flow	$1.28B	$1.28B
Capital Expenditure	-$977M	$307M
Free Cash Flow	$307M	$307M
Other Investing	$12.8M	$319M
Dividends Paid	-$194M	$125M
Net Debt Change	-$517M	-$392M
Other Financing & FX	$327M	-$64.7M
Net Cash Decrease	-$64.7M	-$64.7M

Operating Cash Flow$1.28B
Capital Expenditure-$977M
Free Cash Flow$307M
Other Investing$12.8M
Dividends Paid-$194M
Net Debt Change-$517M
Other Financing & FX$327M
Net Cash Decrease-$64.7M

Want to see what drove the FCF change?Free Cash Flow Bridge

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

National Fuel Gas (NFG) Key Financials

Charts, filings, and peer comparison for every metric

Explore more

Deep-dives across the income statement, cash flow, capital return, and valuation

Overview

NFG Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

How this company returns cash to shareholders — buybacks, dividends, and stock splits.

Forecast & Valuation