Is There An Opportunity With Bellevue Gold Limited's (ASX:BGL) 35% Undervaluation?

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Bellevue Gold is AU$2.24 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
• Current share price of AU$1.46 suggests Bellevue Gold is potentially 35% undervalued
• The AU$1.73 analyst price target for BGL is 23% less than our estimate of fair value

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Bellevue Gold Limited (ASX:BGL) as an investment opportunity by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. 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.

View our latest analysis for Bellevue Gold

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. 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.

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

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF (A$, Millions)	-AU$3.87m	AU$277.9m	AU$325.0m	AU$242.1m	AU$197.9m	AU$173.9m	AU$160.2m	AU$152.4m	AU$148.2m	AU$146.2m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Analyst x2	Est @ -18.22%	Est @ -12.13%	Est @ -7.87%	Est @ -4.88%	Est @ -2.79%	Est @ -1.33%
Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.6%	-AU$3.6	AU$240	AU$261	AU$181	AU$138	AU$112	AU$96.3	AU$85.1	AU$76.9	AU$70.6

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$1.3b

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 7.6%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = AU$146m× (1 + 2.1%) ÷ (7.6%– 2.1%) = AU$2.7b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= AU$2.7b÷ ( 1 + 7.6%)¹⁰= AU$1.3b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is AU$2.6b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$1.5, the company appears quite undervalued 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.

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 Bellevue Gold 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 7.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.094. 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 Bellevue Gold

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for 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?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Bellevue Gold, we've put together three fundamental elements you should consider:

1. Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Bellevue Gold (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.
2. Future Earnings: How does BGL'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 ASX 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.