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Why GPT Group’s (ASX:GPT) Cash Is A Factor You Need To Consider

GPT Group (ASX:GPT) 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. After investment, what’s left over is what belongs to you, the investor. This also determines how much the stock is worth. I will take you through GPT’s cash flow health and the risk-return concept based on the stock’s cash flow yield, using the most recent financial data. This will help you think about the company from a cash perspective, which is a crucial factor to investing.

View our latest analysis for GPT Group

What is GPT Group’s cash yield?

GPT Group generates cash through its day-to-day business, which needs to be reinvested into the company in order for it to continue operating. What remains after this expenditure, is known as its free cash flow, or FCF, for short.

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There are two methods I will use to evaluate the quality of GPT Group’s FCF: firstly, I will measure its FCF yield relative to the market index yield; secondly, I will examine whether its operating cash flow will continue to grow into the future, which will give us a sense of sustainability.

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

GPT Group’s yield of 4.3% indicates its sub-standard capacity to generate cash, compared to the stock market index as a whole, accounting for the size differential. This means investors are taking on more concentrated risk on GPT Group but are not being adequately rewarded for doing so.

ASX:GPT Net Worth December 3rd 18
ASX:GPT Net Worth December 3rd 18

Does GPT Group have a favourable cash flow trend?

Another important consideration is whether this return is likely to be maintained over the next couple of years. We can gauge this by looking at GPT’s expected operating cash flows. In the next few years, the company is expected to grow its cash from operations at a double-digit rate of 26%, ramping up from its current levels of AU$493m to AU$619m in three years’ time. Although this seems impressive, breaking down into year-on-year growth rates, GPT’s operating cash flow growth is expected to decline from a rate of 10% in the upcoming year, to 8.4% by the end of the third year. But the overall future outlook seems buoyant if GPT can maintain its levels of capital expenditure as well.

Next Steps:

Although its positive operating cash flow, and high future growth, is appealing, the low free cash flow yield is unattractive. This is because you would be better compensated in terms of cash yield, by investing in the market index, as well as take on lower diversification risk. However, cash is only one aspect of investing. Keep in mind that cash is only one aspect of investment analysis and there are other important fundamentals to assess. I suggest you continue to research GPT Group to get a better picture of the company by looking at:

  1. Valuation: What is GPT 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 GPT is currently mispriced by the market.

  2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on GPT Group’s board and the CEO’s back ground.

  3. 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.