A Look At The Fair Value Of Clarkson PLC (LON:CKN)

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Clarkson is UK£43.90 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• With UK£37.90 share price, Clarkson appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

• The UK£44.06 analyst price target for CKNis comparable to our estimate of fair value.

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Clarkson PLC (LON:CKN) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

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 Clarkson

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. 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.

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

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF (£, Millions)	UK£71.1m	UK£75.0m	UK£95.4m	UK£85.8m	UK£80.2m	UK£76.9m	UK£75.1m	UK£74.2m	UK£74.0m	UK£74.2m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x2	Analyst x4	Analyst x2	Est @ -10.03%	Est @ -6.53%	Est @ -4.08%	Est @ -2.36%	Est @ -1.16%	Est @ -0.32%	Est @ 0.27%
Present Value (£, Millions) Discounted @ 6.7%	UK£66.7	UK£66.0	UK£78.6	UK£66.3	UK£58.1	UK£52.3	UK£47.8	UK£44.3	UK£41.4	UK£38.9

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK£560m

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 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = UK£74m× (1 + 1.6%) ÷ (6.7%– 1.6%) = UK£1.5b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= UK£1.5b÷ ( 1 + 6.7%)¹⁰= UK£789m

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is UK£1.3b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of UK£37.9, the company appears about fair value at a 14% 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.

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the 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 Clarkson 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 6.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.916. 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 Clarkson

Strength

• Currently debt free.

• Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

• Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Shipping industry.

• Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Shipping market.

Opportunity

• Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Threat

• Annual earnings are forecast to decline for the next 2 years.

Moving On:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Clarkson, there are three essential factors you should look at:

1. Risks: Be aware that Clarkson is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is significant...

2. Future Earnings: How does CKN'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 Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the LSE 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.