Is CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECO) Trading At A 37% Discount?

Key Insights

• Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, CECO Environmental fair value estimate is US$31.92

• Current share price of US$20.18 suggests CECO Environmental is potentially 37% undervalued

• Analyst price target for CECO is US$23.00 which is 28% below our fair value estimate

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of CECO Environmental Corp. (NASDAQ:CECO) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

View our latest analysis for CECO Environmental

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 start off with, we need to estimate 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.

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) forecast

	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
Levered FCF ($, Millions)	US$37.8m	US$46.4m	US$51.0m	US$54.9m	US$58.2m	US$61.1m	US$63.6m	US$65.8m	US$67.9m	US$69.9m
Growth Rate Estimate Source	Analyst x2	Analyst x2	Est @ 10.03%	Est @ 7.69%	Est @ 6.05%	Est @ 4.90%	Est @ 4.10%	Est @ 3.53%	Est @ 3.14%	Est @ 2.86%
Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.2%	US$35.3	US$40.4	US$41.4	US$41.6	US$41.2	US$40.3	US$39.2	US$37.8	US$36.4	US$35.0

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$389m

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 (2.2%) 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 7.2%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₃ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$70m× (1 + 2.2%) ÷ (7.2%– 2.2%) = US$1.4b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$1.4b÷ ( 1 + 7.2%)¹⁰= US$723m

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 US$1.1b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$20.2, the company appears quite good value at a 37% 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.

dcf

The 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 CECO Environmental 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 7.2%, 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 CECO Environmental

Strength

• Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

• Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Weakness

• No major weaknesses identified for CECO.

Opportunity

• Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market.

• Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

• Significant insider buying over the past 3 months.

Threat

• Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For CECO Environmental, there are three important elements you should look at:

1. Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for CECO Environmental that you should be aware of before investing here.

2. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for CECO's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors.

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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the NASDAQGS 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.