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Is ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Expensive For A Reason? A Look At Its Intrinsic Value

Key Insights

  • ConocoPhillips' estimated fair value is US$77.76 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

  • ConocoPhillips' US$101 share price signals that it might be 30% overvalued

  • Our fair value estimate is 40% lower than ConocoPhillips' analyst price target of US$130

Does the May share price for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

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Check out our latest analysis for ConocoPhillips

The Calculation

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate 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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, 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

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

2030

2031

2032

Levered FCF ($, Millions)

US$11.9b

US$11.1b

US$9.32b

US$8.61b

US$7.67b

US$7.15b

US$6.85b

US$6.70b

US$6.63b

US$6.63b

Growth Rate Estimate Source

Analyst x11

Analyst x11

Analyst x6

Analyst x2

Analyst x1

Est @ -6.80%

Est @ -4.13%

Est @ -2.26%

Est @ -0.95%

Est @ -0.03%

Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 9.3%

US$10.9k

US$9.3k

US$7.1k

US$6.0k

US$4.9k

US$4.2k

US$3.7k

US$3.3k

US$3.0k

US$2.7k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$55b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.1%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 9.3%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2032 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$6.6b× (1 + 2.1%) ÷ (9.3%– 2.1%) = US$95b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$95b÷ ( 1 + 9.3%)10= US$39b

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$94b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$101, the company appears potentially overvalued at the time of writing. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf
dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. 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 ConocoPhillips 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 9.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.206. 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.

SWOT Analysis for ConocoPhillips

Strength

  • Debt is not viewed as a risk.

  • Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

  • Dividend is in the top 25% of dividend payers in the market.

Weakness

  • Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Oil and Gas industry.

Opportunity

  • Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio.

Threat

  • Annual earnings are forecast to decline for the next 3 years.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value lower than the current share price? For ConocoPhillips, there are three important elements you should look at:

  1. Risks: We feel that you should assess the 2 warning signs for ConocoPhillips (1 is potentially serious!) we've flagged before making an investment in the company.

  2. Future Earnings: How does COP's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.

  3. 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 NYSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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