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Healthia Limited's (ASX:HLA) Intrinsic Value Is Potentially 41% Above Its Share Price

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Healthia Limited (ASX:HLA) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. Our analysis will employ 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.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Healthia

Step By Step Through The Calculation

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.

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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) estimate

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

2030

2031

2032

Levered FCF (A$, Millions)

AU$30.3m

AU$36.8m

AU$26.1m

AU$20.6m

AU$17.6m

AU$16.0m

AU$15.0m

AU$14.4m

AU$14.2m

AU$14.0m

Growth Rate Estimate Source

Analyst x2

Analyst x2

Analyst x1

Est @ -21.26%

Est @ -14.30%

Est @ -9.43%

Est @ -6.02%

Est @ -3.64%

Est @ -1.97%

Est @ -0.80%

Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.7%

AU$28.1

AU$31.7

AU$20.9

AU$15.3

AU$12.2

AU$10.2

AU$8.9

AU$8.0

AU$7.3

AU$6.7

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$149m

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.9%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF2032 × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = AU$14m× (1 + 1.9%) ÷ (7.7%– 1.9%) = AU$248m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$248m÷ ( 1 + 7.7%)10= AU$118m

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$268m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$1.4, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 29% 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
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. 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 Healthia 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 7.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.970. 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 Healthia

Strength

  • Debt is well covered by cash flow.

Weakness

  • Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

  • Shareholders have been diluted in the past year.

Opportunity

  • Expected to breakeven next year.

  • Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows.

  • Good value based on P/S ratio and estimated fair value.

  • Significant insider buying over the past 3 months.

Threat

  • No apparent threats visible for HLA.

Looking Ahead:

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. 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. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Healthia, there are three further aspects you should further examine:

  1. Risks: To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Healthia (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .

  2. Future Earnings: How does HLA'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 ASX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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