A Look At The Fair Value Of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AMS:WKL)

Key Insights

• Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Wolters Kluwer fair value estimate is €167

• Current share price of €141 suggests Wolters Kluwer is potentially trading close to its fair value

• Our fair value estimate is 13% higher than Wolters Kluwer's analyst price target of €147

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AMS:WKL) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Wolters Kluwer

The Model

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. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. 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, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF (€, Millions)	€1.33b	€1.43b	€1.53b	€1.61b	€1.67b	€1.71b	€1.75b	€1.78b	€1.81b	€1.83b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Est @ 4.87%	Est @ 3.63%	Est @ 2.77%	Est @ 2.17%	Est @ 1.75%	Est @ 1.45%	Est @ 1.24%
Present Value (€, Millions) Discounted @ 4.9%	€1.3k	€1.3k	€1.3k	€1.3k	€1.3k	€1.3k	€1.3k	€1.2k	€1.2k	€1.1k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = €13b

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 (0.8%) 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 4.9%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = €1.8b× (1 + 0.8%) ÷ (4.9%– 0.8%) = €44b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= €44b÷ ( 1 + 4.9%)¹⁰= €27b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is €40b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of €141, the company appears about fair value at a 16% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

The Assumptions

Now 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 Wolters Kluwer 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 4.9%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.905. 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 Wolters Kluwer

Strength

• Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

• Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

• Earnings declined over the past year.

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

Opportunity

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

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

Threat

• Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the Dutch market.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize 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?" 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 Wolters Kluwer, we've put together three essential elements you should explore:

1. Risks: You should be aware of the 1 warning sign for Wolters Kluwer we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company.

2. Future Earnings: How does WKL'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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Dutch stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

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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.