Upcoming Acquisition Will Expand Services And Strengthen Market Position

Key Takeaways

• Marcum acquisition enhances market position and expands service offerings, positioning CBIZ for revenue growth and improved margins.
  
• Strong cash flow and deleveraging strategy provide flexibility for acquisitions and share repurchases, boosting future earnings.
  
• Execution risks with Marcum acquisition, increased leverage, unsustainable pricing growth, cautious client sentiment, and rising bad debt expenses challenge CBIZ's margins and cash flows.

Catalysts

Provides financial, insurance, and advisory services in the United States and Canada.

• The upcoming acquisition of Marcum is expected to significantly enhance CBIZ's market position and service offerings, strategically positioning the company for future revenue growth.
  
• CBIZ aims to achieve margin improvement of 20 to 50 basis points annually with increased scale, suggesting greater operating efficiencies and higher net margins.
  
• Integration of Marcum is expected to open up new advisory services and industry groups, potentially increasing CBIZ's revenues by expanding the breadth of services to existing and new clients.
  
• Strong cash flow generation and a strategy of rapid deleveraging post-acquisition will provide CBIZ with the financial flexibility to pursue further strategic acquisitions and share repurchases, likely boosting earnings.
  
• CBIZ's focus on leveraging organic revenue growth through targeted pricing strategies and engagement management efficiencies is expected to sustain revenue growth and improve earnings performance in the future.

CBIZ Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming CBIZ's revenue will grow by 34.9% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will shrink from 7.1% today to 6.9% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $285.2 million (and earnings per share of $4.08) by about December 2027, up from $119.0 million today.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 28.4x on those 2027 earnings, down from 34.3x today. This future PE is greater than the current PE for the US Professional Services industry at 25.0x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 11.78% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 6.51%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

CBIZ Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• The integration of Marcum, CBIZ's largest acquisition, presents execution risks and potential cultural integration challenges, which could impact operating margins and synergy realization.
  
• Increasing leverage levels post-Marcum acquisition to a range of 3.25x to 3.5x EBITDA may burden CBIZ with higher interest expenses, affecting net earnings until planned deleveraging occurs.
  
• A significant portion of CBIZ's revenue growth has been driven by pricing increases, which may not be sustainable in a lower inflationary environment, potentially impacting future revenue growth rates.
  
• Client sentiment remains cautious due to geopolitical concerns and potential regulatory changes, which could result in clients delaying investments, affecting CBIZ's project-based advisory revenue.
  
• The increase in bad debt expense from 8 basis points to 15 basis points of revenue indicates potential collection issues, which could impact cash flows and net margins.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of $97.0 for CBIZ based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors.
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2027, revenues will be $4.1 billion, earnings will come to $285.2 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 28.4x, assuming you use a discount rate of 6.5%.
• Given the current share price of $81.67, the analyst's price target of $97.0 is 15.8% higher.
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.