During the past twelve months,Vodafone(LSE: VOD) has traded as high as 258p and as low as 180p.Unfortunately, these price swings have only complicated things for investors. The jump from 180p to 258p has made it exceptionally difficult to calculatean appropriate entry price.
Additionally, its difficult to value Vodafone using traditional metrics like the P/E ratio. At present, City analysts expect Vodafone to report earnings per share of 5.4p for the companys 2016 financial year. These forecasts mean that the company is trading at an eye-watering forward P/E of 46.
Complex figures
Maintaining a global telecommunications business requires a hefty amount of investment in capital equipment, which has to be depreciated over time. A depreciation expense has a direct effect on the profit that appears on a companys income statement.
The larger the depreciation expense in a given year, the lower the companys reported net income. As a result, Vodafones net income figure is weighed down by a hefty depreciation expenseand is, to a certain extent, misleading.
For example, last year Vodafone reportedearnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 11.7bn. But, after deductingdepreciation and amortization the company reportedearnings before interest and taxes of 2.1bn.
However,depreciation is a non-cash expense and as a result, the cost doesnt change the companys cash flow. So, the best way to try and place an accurate value on Vodafones shares is to value the business based on cash flows. The company generated 9bn in cash from operations last year.
You could also use a sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) valuation, which is also known as abreak-up analysis.
A SOTPanalysisprovides a range of values for a companys shares by adding together the value of its individual business segments.
Crunching numbers
By usinga SOTPvaluation coupled with cash flow models, Goldman Sachs believes that Vodafones shares are worth 220p each. This price target is based on the assumption that Vodafones shares trade at the same multiples as the companys peers.
Moreover, Goldmans analysts believethat any deal between Vodafone and Liberty Global could unlock up to30p per share, depending on how the deal is structured. Its assumed that an agreement between these two telecoms giants will unlock value from assets and help to cut costs.
Another set of analysts, this time at UBS believe that an agreement between Vodafone and Liberty could unlockbetween 32p and 96p per Vodafone share in value. So, estimates from these two groups of analysts imply that if a deal between Vodafone and Liberty goes ahead, Vodafones shares could jump by 30p.
A final value
Overall, ona SOTPbasis, Vodafones shares are worth 220p. Nevertheless, if the company agrees a deal with Liberty to sell-off some unwanted European assets an additional 30p per share of value could be unlocked.
Whats more, if Vodafone does decide to sell off its European business to Liberty, the company is likely to return any cash received from the deal to shareholders there could be yet another special dividend windfall on the cards for investors.
Dividend champion
Vodafone is already a dividend champion. The company’s shares currently support a dividend yield of 4.7%, and analysts expect the yield to hit 4.9% next year. If this interests you, and you’re looking for other companies with similar yields, then you need to check out The Motley Fool’s free,limited edition dividend report.
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Rupert Hargreaves has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.