The Character Group plc (LON:CCT) shareholders, and potential investors, need to understand how much cash the business makes from its core operational activities, as well as how much is invested back into the business. This difference directly flows down to how much the stock is worth. Operating in the industry, Character Group is currently valued at UK£113m. I’ve analysed below, the health and outlook of Character Group’s cash flow, which will help you understand the stock from a cash standpoint. Cash is an important concept to grasp as an investor, as it directly impacts the value of your shares and the future growth potential of your portfolio.
View our latest analysis for Character Group
What is free cash flow?
Free cash flow (FCF) is the amount of cash Character Group has left after it pays off its expenses, including its net capital expenditures, which is what the company needs to spend each year to maintain or grow its business operations.
The two ways to assess whether Character Group’s FCF is sufficient, is to compare the FCF yield to the market index yield, as well as determine whether the top-line operating cash flows will continue to grow.
Free Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flows – Net Capital Expenditure
Free Cash Flow Yield = Free Cash Flow / Enterprise Value
where Enterprise Value = Market Capitalisation + Net Debt
Although, Character Group generate sufficient cash from its operational activities, its FCF yield of 6.46% is roughly in-line with the broader market’s high single-digit yield. This means investors are being compensated at the same level as they would be if they just held the well-diversified market index.
Does Character Group have a favourable cash flow trend?
Does Character Group’s future look brighter in terms of its ability to generate higher operating cash flows? This can be estimated by examining the trend of the company’s operating cash flow moving forward. In the next couple of years, Character Group’s operating cash flows is expected to grow by a double-digit 33%, which is encouraging, should capital expenditure levels maintain at an appropriate level. Below is a table of Character Group’s operating cash flow in the past year, as well as the anticipated level going forward.| Current | +1 year | +2 year | +3 year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow (OCF) | UK£11m | UK£11m | UK£14m | UK£14m |
| OCF Growth Year-On-Year | 1.9% | 28% | 1.5% | |
| OCF Growth From Current Year | 31% | 33% |
Next Steps:
Character Group is compensating investors at a cash yield similar to the wider market portfolio. But, in saying this, investors are taking on more risk by buying one single stock as opposed to a diversified market portfolio, but they are being compensated at the same level. Not the best deal! Now you know to keep cash flows in mind, You should continue to research Character Group to get a more holistic view of the company by looking at:
- Valuation: What is CCT worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether CCT is currently mispriced by the market.
- Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Character Group’s board and the CEO’s back ground.
- Other High-Performing Stocks: If you believe you should cushion your portfolio with something less risky, scroll through our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.