MGP Ingredients: A Quiet Turnaround Brewing Under Captain Francis

Core Insights - The current market perception of company earnings may be overly pessimistic compared to the actual financial situation as indicated by deeper analysis of earnings reports [1] Valuation Methods - Various methods exist for sell-side analysts to determine a company's fair value, including DCF, multiples approach, and reverse valuation, each with its own strengths and weaknesses [1] - The DCF method requires precise assumptions, which can introduce bias, while the multiples approach relies on the assumption that peer companies are fairly priced, a notion that is often not supported by historical data [1] - Reverse valuation starts from the market price and discount rate, working backward to reveal the free cash flow assumptions embedded in the price, providing a more straightforward assessment of market beliefs [1] Free Cash Flow Analysis - A Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFE) model is utilized to determine the actual value belonging to shareholders, calculated as Earnings + Amortization – CAPEX – average acquisition cost [1] - The analysis disregards working capital and debt changes, focusing instead on three key figures: earnings, amortization, and investments [1] Forecasting Approach - The H-model is applied for forecasts, which involves a 10-year two-stage growth fade, with terminal growth aligned to the risk-free rate, specifically the yield of 10-year government bonds [1] - All cash flows are discounted using the cost of equity, calculated as RFR × beta + 5% ERP, resulting in a clear and noise-free valuation of the business [1]