SunCoke Energy Inc Valuation – September 2018 $SXC

Company Profile (excerpt from Reuters): SunCoke Energy, Inc., incorporated on December 8, 2010, is an independent producer of coke in the Americas. The Company’s segments include Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, Coal Logistics, and Corporate and Other. The Company designs, develops, builds, owns and operates five cokemaking facilities in the United States with collective nameplate capacity to produce approximately 4.2 million tons of coke per year, as of December 31, 2016.

Downloadable PDF version of this valuation:

ModernGraham Valuation of SXC – September 2018

Stage 1: Is this company suitable for the Defensive Investor or the Enterprising Investor?

What kind of Intelligent Investor are you?

Defensive Investor; must pass 6 out of the following 7 tests.
1. Adequate Size of the Enterprise Market Cap > $2Bil $727,544,987 Fail
2. Sufficiently Strong Financial Condition Current Ratio > 2 1.86 Fail
3. Earnings Stability Positive EPS for 10 years prior Fail
4. Dividend Record Dividend Payments for 10 years prior Fail
5. Earnings Growth Increase of 33% in EPS in past 10 years using 3 year averages at beginning and end -18.53% Fail
6. Moderate PEmg Ratio PEmg < 20 24.72 Fail
7. Moderate Price to Assets PB Ratio < 2.5 OR PB*PEmg < 50 1.10 Pass
Enterprising Investor; must pass 4 out of the following 5 tests, or be suitable for the Defensive Investor.
1. Sufficiently Strong Financial Condition Current Ratio > 1.5 1.86 Pass
2. Sufficiently Strong Financial Condition Debt to NCA < 1.1 5.25 Fail
3. Earnings Stability Positive EPS for 5 years prior Fail
4. Dividend Record Currently Pays Dividend Fail
5. Earnings Growth EPSmg greater than 5 years ago Pass

 

Stage 2: Determination of Intrinsic Value

EPSmg $0.45
MG Growth Estimate 15.00%
MG Value $17.50
Opinion Undervalued
MG Grade C-
MG Value based on 3% Growth $6.59
MG Value based on 0% Growth $3.86
Market Implied Growth Rate 8.11%
Current Price $11.24
% of Intrinsic Value 64.21%

SunCoke Energy Inc does not satisfy the requirements of either the Enterprising Investor or the more conservative Defensive Investor. The Defensive Investor is concerned with the small size, low current ratio, insufficient earnings stability or growth over the last ten years, and the poor dividend history, and the high PEmg ratio. The Enterprising Investor has concerns regarding the level of debt relative to the net current assets, and the lack of earnings stability over the last five years, and the lack of dividends. As a result, all value investors following the ModernGraham approach should explore other opportunities at this time or proceed cautiously with a speculative attitude.

As for a valuation, the company appears to be Undervalued after growing its EPSmg (normalized earnings) from $0.01 in 2014 to an estimated $0.45 for 2018. This level of demonstrated earnings growth outpaces the market’s implied estimate of 8.11% annual earnings growth over the next 7-10 years. As a result, the ModernGraham valuation model, based on the Benjamin Graham value investing formula, returns an estimate of intrinsic value above the price.

At the time of valuation, further research into SunCoke Energy Inc revealed the company was trading above its Graham Number of $5.85. The company does not pay a dividend. Its PEmg (price over earnings per share – ModernGraham) was 24.72, which was below the industry average of 68, which by some methods of valuation makes it one of the most undervalued stocks in its industry. Finally, the company was trading above its Net Current Asset Value (NCAV) of $-16.12.

SunCoke Energy Inc receives an average overall rating in the ModernGraham grading system, scoring a C-.

Stage 3: Information for Further Research

Net Current Asset Value (NCAV) -$16.12
Graham Number $5.85
PEmg 24.72
Current Ratio 1.86
PB Ratio 1.10
Current Dividend $0.00
Dividend Yield 0.00%
Number of Consecutive Years of Dividend Growth 0

Useful Links:

ModernGraham tagged articles Morningstar
Google Finance MSN Money
Yahoo Finance Seeking Alpha
GuruFocus SEC Filings

Most Recent Balance Sheet Figures

Balance Sheet Information 6/1/2018
Total Current Assets $354,200,000
Total Current Liabilities $190,300,000
Long-Term Debt $860,000,000
Total Assets $2,084,300,000
Intangible Assets $239,200,000
Total Liabilities $1,411,900,000
Shares Outstanding (Diluted Average) 65,600,000

Earnings Per Share History

EPS History
Next Fiscal Year Estimate $0.23
Dec2017 $1.88
Dec2016 $0.22
Dec2015 -$0.34
Dec2014 -$1.83
Dec2013 $0.36
Dec2012 $1.40
Dec2011 $0.87
Dec2010 $1.99

Earnings Per Share – ModernGraham History

EPSmg History
Next Fiscal Year Estimate $0.45
Dec2017 $0.40
Dec2016 -$0.24
Dec2015 -$0.28
Dec2014 $0.01
Dec2013 $0.93
Dec2012 $1.10
Dec2011 $0.82
Dec2010 $0.66

Recommended Reading:

Other ModernGraham posts about the company

SunCoke Energy Inc Valuation – Initial Coverage $SXC

Other ModernGraham posts about related companies

Allegheny Technologies Inc Valuation – September 2018 $ATI
SSR Mining Inc Valuation – August 2018 $TSE-SSRM
Sandstorm Gold Ltd Valuation – August 2018 $TSE-SSL
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd Valuation – August 2018 $TSE-KL
Natural Resource Partners LP Valuation – August 2018 $NRP
Kaiser Aluminum Corp Valuation – August 2018 $KALU
Semafo Inc Valuation – August 2018 $TSE-SMF
US Silica Holdings Inc Valuation – August 2018 $SLCA
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd Valuation – August 2018 $TSE-IVN
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc Valuation – July 2018 $CLF

Disclaimer:

The author did not hold a position in any company mentioned in this article at the time of publication and had no intention of changing that position within the next 72 hours.  See my current holdings here.  This article is not investment advice; any reader should speak to a registered investment adviser prior to making any investment decisions.  ModernGraham is not affiliated with the company in any manner.  Please be sure to review our detailed disclaimer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.