Apogee Enterprises Practices an Old Recipe

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Jan 22, 2015

In this article, let's take a look at Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (APOG, Financial), a $1.25 billion market cap company, which designs and develops glass products, services, and systems. It operates in two segments, Architectural Products and Services, and Large-Scale Optical Technologies.

Rewarding Shareholders over Time

On Jan 16, the board of directors approved a 10% increase in its quarterly dividend to 11 cents from its previous 10 cents. Based on that, shares rose and closed at $42.50 at the end of trading day.

The current dividend yield is 0.9%, which should improve in the future allowing higher shareholder´s returns. The increased dividend will take the dividend yield to 1.0% at today trading price.

Growth of 10,000

If you had invested $10.000 five years ago, today you could have $30.218, which represents a 24.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Valuation

In stock valuation models, dividend discount models (DDM) define cash flow as the dividends to be received by the shareholders. Extending the period indefinitely, the fundamental value of the stock is the present value of an infinite stream of dividends according to John Burr Williams.

Although this is theoretically correct, it requires forecasting dividends for many periods, so we can use some growth models like: Gordon (constant) growth model, the Two or Three stage growth model or the H-Model (which is a special case of a two-stage model).With the appropriate model, we can forecast dividends up to the end of the investment horizon where we no longer have confidence in the forecasts and then forecast a terminal value based on some other method, such as a multiple of book value or earnings.

To start with, the Gordon Growth Model (GGM) assumes that dividends increase at a constant rate indefinitely.

This formula condenses to: V0=(D0 (1+g))/(r-g)=D1/(r-g)

where:

V0 = fundamental value

D0 = last year dividends per share of Exxon's common stock

r = required rate of return on the common stock

g = dividend growth rate

Let´s estimate the inputs for modeling:

Required Rate of Return (r)

The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) estimates the required return on equity using the following formula: required return on stockj = risk-free rate + beta of j x equity risk premium

Assumptions:

Risk-Free Rate: Rate of return on LT Government Debt: RF = 2.67%. This is a very low rate because of today´s context. Since 1900, yields have ranged from a little less than 2% to 15%; with an average rate of 4.9%. So I think it is more appropriate to use this rate.

Beta: β =1.01

GGM equity risk premium = (1-year forecasted dividend yield on market index) +(consensus long-term earnings growth rate) – (long-term government bond yield) = 2.13% + 11.97% - 2.67% = 11.43%[1]

rAPOG = RF + βAPOG [GGM ERP]

= 4.9% + 1.01 [11.43%]

= 16.44%

Dividend growth rate (g)

The sustainable growth rate is the rate at which earnings and dividends can grow indefinitely assuming that the firm´s debt-to-equity ratio is unchanged and it doesn´t issue new equity.

g = b x ROE

b = retention rate

ROE=(Net Income)/Equity= ((Net Income)/Sales).(Sales/(Total Assets)).((Total Assets)/Equity)

The “PRAT” Model:

g= ((Net Income-Dividends)/(Net Income)).((Net Income)/Sales).(Sales/(Total Assets)).((Total Assets)/Equity)

Let´s collect the information we need to get the dividend growth rate:

Financial Data (USD $ in millions) Mar 1, 2014 Mar 2, 2013 Mar 3, 2012
Cash dividends declared 10,764 10,316 9,153
Net income applicable to common shares 27,986 19,111 4,645
Net sales 771,445 700,224 662,463
Total assets 565,357 520,141 493,104
Total Shareholders' equity 352,630 333,318 321,198
Ratios   Â
Retention rate 1 0.46 -0.97
Profit margin 0.04 0.03 0.01
Asset turnover 1.36 1.35 1.34
Financial leverage 1.65 1.59 0.12
   Â
Retention rate = (Net Income – Cash dividends declared) ÷ Net Income = 0.62
   Â
Profit margin = Net Income ÷ Net sales = 0.04 Â Â
   Â
Asset turnover = Net sales ÷ Total assets = 1.36 Â Â
   Â
Financial leverage = Total assets ÷ Total Shareholders' equity = 1.60 Â
   Â
Averages   Â
Retention rate 0.04 Â Â
Profit margin 0.02 Â Â
Asset turnover 1.35 Â Â
Financial leverage 1.12 Â Â
   Â
g = Retention rate × Profit margin × Asset turnover × Financial leverage Â
   Â
Dividend growth rate 0.12% Â Â
   Â

Because for most companies, the GGM is unrealistic, let´s consider the H-Model which assumes a growth rate that starts high and then declines linearly over the high growth stage, until it reverts to the long-run rate. A smoother transition to the mature phase growth rate that is more realistic.

Dividend growth rate (g) implied by Gordon growth model (long-run rate)

With the GGM formula and simple math:

g = (P0.r - D0)/(P0+D0)

= ($44.17 ×16.44% – $0.4) ÷ ($44.17 + $0.4) = 15.40%.

The growth rates are:

Year Value g(t)
1 g(1) 0.12%
2 g(2) 3.94%
3 g(3) 7.76%
4 g(4) 11.58%
5 g(5) 15.40%

G(2), g(3) and g(4) are calculated using linear interpolation between g(1) and g(5).

Calculation of Intrinsic Value

Year Value Cash Flow Present value
0 Div 0 0,40 Â
1 Div 1 0,40 0,34
2 Div 2 0,42 0,31
3 Div 3 0,45 0,28
4 Div 4 0,50 0,27
5 Div 5 0.58 0.27
5 Terminal Value 63.79 29.79
Intrinsic value   31.27
Current share price   44.17

New Calculation

Based on its outstanding shares of approximately 29 million, the increased dividend will translate to an annual payout of $12.7 million. Ceteris paribus, we found an intrinsic value of about $33.39 which is closer to the current trading price.

Final Comment

We have covered just one valuation method and investors should not be relied on alone in order to determine a fair (over/under) value for a potential investment.

Trading nearly the 52-week high seems to be announcing a fall in price. However, we think that it is the right time to add the stock to your long-term portfolio.

Although hedge fund managers like Bill Frels (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) reduced the stock in the third quarter of 2014, I feel confident on my bullish sentiment.

Disclosure: Omar Venerio holds no position in any stocks mentioned.


[1] This values where obtained from Blommberg´s CRP function.