Are Investors Undervaluing Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600266) By 38%?

Key Insights

• Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development's estimated fair value is CN¥8.77 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
• Current share price of CN¥5.42 suggests Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development is potentially 38% undervalued
• The CN¥7.92 analyst price target for 600266 is 9.7% less than our estimate of fair value

Does the December share price for Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600266) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

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.

View our latest analysis for Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development

The Method

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. 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.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, 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

	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033	2034
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions)	CN¥4.01b	CN¥2.84b	CN¥2.29b	CN¥1.99b	CN¥1.83b	CN¥1.74b	CN¥1.70b	CN¥1.68b	CN¥1.68b	CN¥1.70b
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Est @ -42.80%	Est @ -29.12%	Est @ -19.54%	Est @ -12.84%	Est @ -8.15%	Est @ -4.86%	Est @ -2.56%	Est @ -0.96%	Est @ 0.17%	Est @ 0.96%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 13%	CN¥3.6k	CN¥2.2k	CN¥1.6k	CN¥1.2k	CN¥1.0k	CN¥847	CN¥732	CN¥643	CN¥571	CN¥511

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

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 2.8%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 13%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₄ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥1.7b× (1 + 2.8%) ÷ (13%– 2.8%) = CN¥18b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= CN¥18b÷ ( 1 + 13%)¹⁰= CN¥5.3b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is CN¥18b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CN¥5.4, the company appears quite good value at a 38% 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. 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 Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development 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 13%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. 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 Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development, we've put together three relevant factors you should consider:

1. Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 3 warning signs with Beijing Urban Construction Investment & Development (at least 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
2. Future Earnings: How does 600266'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. 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.