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Should You Care About Renishaw plc’s (LON:RSW) Cash Levels?

If you are currently a shareholder in Renishaw plc (LON:RSW), or considering investing in the stock, you need to examine how the business generates cash, and how it is reinvested. After investment, what’s left over is what belongs to you, the investor. This also determines how much the stock is worth. Today we will examine RSW’s ability to generate cash flows, as well as the level of capital expenditure it is expected to incur over the next couple of years, which will result in how much money goes to you.

See our latest analysis for Renishaw

What is Renishaw’s cash yield?

Renishaw’s free cash flow (FCF) is the level of cash flow the business generates from its operational activities, after it reinvests in the company as capital expenditure. This type of expense is needed for Renishaw to continue to grow, or at least, maintain its current operations.

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I will be analysing Renishaw’s FCF by looking at its FCF yield and its operating cash flow growth. The yield will tell us whether the stock is generating enough cash to compensate for the risk investors take on by holding a single stock, which I will compare to the market index. The growth will proxy for sustainability levels of this cash generation.

Free Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flows – Net Capital Expenditure

Free Cash Flow Yield = Free Cash Flow / Enterprise Value

where Enterprise Value = Market Capitalisation + Net Debt

Renishaw’s yield of 1.54% indicates its sub-standard capacity to generate cash, compared to the stock market index as a whole, accounting for the size differential. This means investors are taking on more concentrated risk on Renishaw but are not being adequately rewarded for doing so.

LSE:RSW Net Worth September 4th 18
LSE:RSW Net Worth September 4th 18

Does Renishaw have a favourable cash flow trend?

Can RSW improve its operating cash production in the future? Let’s take a quick look at the cash flow trend the company is expected to deliver over time. In the next couple of years, the company is expected to grow its cash from operations at a double-digit rate of 69.0%, ramping up from its current levels of UK£132.1m to UK£223.3m in three years’ time. Although this seems impressive, breaking down into year-on-year growth rates, RSW’s operating cash flow growth is expected to decline from a rate of 35.8% in the upcoming year, to 26.6% by the end of the third year. However the overall picture seems encouraging, should capital expenditure levels maintain at an appropriate level.

Next Steps:

Low free cash flow yield means you are not currently well-compensated for the risk you’re taking on by holding onto Renishaw relative to a well-diversified market index. However, the high growth in operating cash flow may change the tides in the future. Now you know to keep cash flows in mind, I suggest you continue to research Renishaw to get a more holistic view of the company by looking at:

  1. Valuation: What is RSW worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether RSW is currently mispriced by the market.

  2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Renishaw’s board and the CEO’s back ground.

  3. Other High-Performing Stocks: If you believe you should cushion your portfolio with something less risky, scroll through our free list of these great stocks here.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.