Stock Analysis

A Look At The Fair Value Of DEPPON LOGISTICS Co., LTD. (SHSE:603056)

SHSE:603056
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Key Insights

  • The projected fair value for DEPPON LOGISTICS is CN¥13.49 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
  • With CN¥13.39 share price, DEPPON LOGISTICS appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value
  • Analyst price target for 603056 is CN¥17.17, which is 27% above our fair value estimate

How far off is DEPPON LOGISTICS Co., LTD. (SHSE:603056) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for DEPPON LOGISTICS

Is DEPPON LOGISTICS Fairly Valued?

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. 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) estimate

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034
Levered FCF (CN¥, Millions) CN¥229.0m CN¥1.04b CN¥932.3m CN¥871.0m CN¥838.3m CN¥823.5m CN¥820.3m CN¥825.1m CN¥835.6m CN¥850.1m
Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ -10.62% Est @ -6.58% Est @ -3.75% Est @ -1.77% Est @ -0.38% Est @ 0.59% Est @ 1.27% Est @ 1.74%
Present Value (CN¥, Millions) Discounted @ 7.8% CN¥212 CN¥898 CN¥745 CN¥645 CN¥576 CN¥525 CN¥486 CN¥453 CN¥426 CN¥402

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = CN¥5.4b

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after 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 (2.9%) 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 7.8%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2034 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = CN¥850m× (1 + 2.9%) ÷ (7.8%– 2.9%) = CN¥18b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= CN¥18b÷ ( 1 + 7.8%)10= CN¥8.4b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is CN¥14b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CN¥13.4, the company appears about fair value at a 0.8% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf
SHSE:603056 Discounted Cash Flow August 16th 2024

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. 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 DEPPON LOGISTICS 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 7.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.989. 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 DEPPON LOGISTICS

Strength
  • Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.
  • Debt is not viewed as a risk.
  • Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.
Weakness
  • Earnings growth over the past year is below its 5-year average.
  • Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Logistics market.
Opportunity
  • Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Chinese market.
  • Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.
Threat
  • Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Chinese market.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. 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 DEPPON LOGISTICS, there are three relevant items you should look at:

  1. Risks: Be aware that DEPPON LOGISTICS is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about...
  2. Future Earnings: How does 603056'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 SHSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks 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.