Estimating The Intrinsic Value Of Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300094)

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products is CN¥2.97 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
• Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products' CN¥2.63 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate
• Peers of Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products are currently trading on average at a 159% premium

How far off is Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. (SZSE:300094) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products

What's The Estimated Valuation?

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. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last 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 discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)	CN¥160.6m	CN¥161.7m	CN¥163.9m	CN¥166.9m	CN¥170.5m	CN¥174.5m	CN¥178.9m	CN¥183.6m	CN¥188.6m	CN¥193.9m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Est @ -0.25%	Est @ 0.70%	Est @ 1.36%	Est @ 1.82%	Est @ 2.14%	Est @ 2.37%	Est @ 2.53%	Est @ 2.64%	Est @ 2.72%	Est @ 2.77%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 7.4%	CN¥150	CN¥140	CN¥132	CN¥125	CN¥119	CN¥114	CN¥109	CN¥104	CN¥99.2	CN¥94.9

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥1.2b

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 2.9%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.4%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥194m× (1 + 2.9%) ÷ (7.4%– 2.9%) = CN¥4.4b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CN¥4.4b÷ ( 1 + 7.4%)¹⁰= CN¥2.2b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CN¥3.4b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CN¥2.6, the company appears about fair value at a 12% 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.

Important Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own 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 Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products 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 7.4%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. 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:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it 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. For Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products, we've put together three pertinent aspects you should assess:

1. Risks: Be aware that Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those doesn't sit too well with us...
2. 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!
3. Other Top Analyst Picks: Interested to see what the analysts are thinking? Take a look at our interactive list of analysts' top stock picks to find out what they feel might have an attractive future outlook!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Chinese 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.