Yahoo Finance Are Investors Undervaluing Goodrich Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT:GDP) By 8.6%?
How far off is Goodrich Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT:GDP) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. I will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!
Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.
See our latest analysis for Goodrich Petroleum
The calculation
We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:
10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | |
Levered FCF ($, Millions) | US$14.9m | US$17.9m | US$11.0m | US$7.66m | US$6.07m | US$5.22m | US$4.74m | US$4.46m | US$4.29m | US$4.21m |
Growth Rate Estimate Source | Analyst x4 | Analyst x3 | Analyst x1 | Est @ -30.36% | Est @ -20.73% | Est @ -13.99% | Est @ -9.27% | Est @ -5.97% | Est @ -3.66% | Est @ -2.04% |
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 12% | US$13.3 | US$14.2 | US$7.8 | US$4.8 | US$3.4 | US$2.6 | US$2.1 | US$1.8 | US$1.5 | US$1.3 |
("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$52m
The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 10-year government bond rate of 1.7%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 12%.
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2029 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$4.2m× (1 + 1.7%) ÷ 12%– 1.7%) = US$41m
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$41m÷ ( 1 + 12%)10= US$13m
The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$65m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$4.7, the company appears about fair value at a 8.6% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.
The assumptions
The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Goodrich Petroleum as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 12%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.929. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.
Next Steps:
Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn’t be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Goodrich Petroleum, We've put together three fundamental aspects you should further examine:
Risks: For instance, we've identified 6 warning signs for Goodrich Petroleum (3 make us uncomfortable) you should be aware of.
Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for GDP's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors.
Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the AMEX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
