Calculating The Fair Value Of Propel Funeral Partners Limited (ASX:PFP)

Key Insights

• The projected fair value for Propel Funeral Partners is AU$4.51 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

• With AU$4.70 share price, Propel Funeral Partners appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

• Our fair value estimate is 12% lower than Propel Funeral Partners' analyst price target of AU$5.10

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Propel Funeral Partners Limited (ASX:PFP) as an investment opportunity 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. 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. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Propel Funeral Partners

The Method

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 begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. 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$17.9m	AU$19.8m	AU$22.0m	AU$22.8m	AU$25.2m	AU$26.7m	AU$28.0m	AU$29.1m	AU$30.1m	AU$31.0m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Analyst x3	Analyst x1	Analyst x1	Est @ 5.91%	Est @ 4.76%	Est @ 3.96%	Est @ 3.39%	Est @ 3.00%
Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 6.7%	AU$16.7	AU$17.4	AU$18.1	AU$17.6	AU$18.2	AU$18.1	AU$17.8	AU$17.3	AU$16.8	AU$16.2

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$174m

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 6.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = AU$31m× (1 + 2.1%) ÷ (6.7%– 2.1%) = AU$687m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= AU$687m÷ ( 1 + 6.7%)¹⁰= AU$360m

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 AU$534m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$4.7, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. 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

Important 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 Propel Funeral Partners 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 6.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.920. 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 Propel Funeral Partners

Strength

• Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

• Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Consumer Services market.

• Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

• Annual revenue is forecast to grow faster than the Australian market.

Threat

• Dividends are not covered by cash flow.

• Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the Australian market.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. 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. 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 Propel Funeral Partners, we've compiled three pertinent elements you should further examine:

1. Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Propel Funeral Partners , and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

2. Future Earnings: How does PFP'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 High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

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