An Intrinsic Calculation For Gibson Energy Inc. (TSE:GEI) Suggests It's 35% Undervalued

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Gibson Energy Inc. (TSE:GEI) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. I will be using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. 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 Gibson Energy

The model

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 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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
Levered FCF (CA$, Millions)	CA$162.7m	CA$274.8m	CA$415.0m	CA$415.0m	CA$419.0m	CA$423.4m	CA$428.3m	CA$433.7m	CA$439.3m	CA$445.3m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x2	Analyst x3	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ 1.05%	Est @ 1.17%	Est @ 1.25%	Est @ 1.31%	Est @ 1.35%
Present Value (CA$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.7%	CA$151	CA$237	CA$332	CA$309	CA$289	CA$272	CA$255	CA$240	CA$226	CA$212

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CA$2.5b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 10-year government bond rate (1.4%) 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 7.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₂₉ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CA$445m× (1 + 1.4%) ÷ 7.7%– 1.4%) = CA$7.2b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CA$7.2b÷ ( 1 + 7.7%)¹⁰= CA$3.5b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CA$6.0b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of CA$26.6, the company appears quite good value at a 35% 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.

TSX:GEI Intrinsic value, January 1st 2020

Important assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual 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 Gibson Energy 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 7.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.148. 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:

Whilst important, DCF calculation 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. What is the reason for the share price to differ from the intrinsic value? For Gibson Energy, I've put together three further aspects you should look at:

1. Financial Health: Does GEI have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.

2. Future Earnings: How does GEI'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: Are there other high quality stocks you could be holding instead of GEI? 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 TSX 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.

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