by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
On a podcast recorded on September 14th, I said I thought that Yieldco stocks had bottomed at the end of September. Two weeks later, that call still looks like a good one (see chart.)
On a podcast recorded on September 14th, I said I thought that Yieldco stocks had bottomed at the end of September. Two weeks later, that call still looks like a good one (see chart.)
I'm starting to hear optimistic noises from other Yieldco observers, although the general tone remains quite bearish.
- End of quarter. Some institutional investors such as mutual funds reshuffle their portfolios at the end of the quarter so that they don't have to report losing stocks as holdings.
- Market capitulation. Although the chart of the thinly traded Global X YieldCo Index ETF (YLCO), above, does not show the high volume selling of a typical capitulation bottom, most of the largest and most liquid Yieldco stocks do. NRG Yield (NYLD), Terraform Power (TERP), and NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) all show high volume trading on September 28th or 29th. The pattern is most dramatic for NRG Yield:
- Valuation. Valuation is usually useless for
market timing, including calling bottoms. Undervalued
stocks can grow even more undervalued. That said, Yieldcos
are much easier to value than most stocks, especially if we
assume that low stock prices will prevent growth through
acquisition. In that case, a Yieldco should be worth
approximately the same as its assets. Those assets are
solar and wind farms, or other clean energy infrastructure will
long term contracted cash flows. Since most Yieldco assets
have been acquired recently, the current value of those assets
should not be too different from what the Yieldco paid for
them. Hence, Yieldco prices per share should never fall
far below invested capital per share. If a Yieldco
recently bought its assets at near market prices, tangible book
value per share will be a good measure of invested
capital. If the asset were acquired for in kind
contributions of Yieldco stock, we may still be able to value
them using a discounted cash flow analysis.
The newest Yieldco is Terraform Global (GLBL),
which went public at the start of August. At the IPO,
Terraform Global had a
net tangible book value of $9.47 per share, compared to a
$15 IPO price. At the recent price of $7.50, GLBL is trading
at a 21% discount to net tangible assets, or more than a fifth
less than the recent purchase price of solar farms it
owns. In other words, investors seem to be assuming
that any future acquisitions will fail to create (or potentially
destroy) value for current shareholders, and that GLBL
significantly overpaid for its current assets.
Terraform Global seems priced for nearly everything to go
wrong. Even assuming that everything does go wrong, I'm
happy holding the stock at $7.50 and collecting the $1.10 (15%)
annual dividend.
8point3 Energy Partners (CAFD)
went public in June with a net
tangible book value of $5.99 per share, compared to a $21
IPO price. The reason for this low tangible book value was
because its sponsors First Solar (FSLR)
and Sunpower (SPWR)
contributed solar farms at cost. The actual value of those
farms would be significantly higher if sold to unrelated
parties.
Tangible book value is not particularly useful for valuing
8point3's assets, but my colleague Jan Schalkwijk,
CFA of JPS Global Investments has done a discounted cash
flow analysis of 8point3 under the assumption of absolutely no
revenue growth after 2026, and his estimates of nearer term
revenue growth without the addition of new assets before that
date. At a 7% discount rate (which seems appropriate given
the low risk of 8point3's contracted cash flows, he arrived at a
value per share of $12.99. In other words, at the recent
price of $13, the market is placing no value on 8point3's
potential future acquisitions, or the chance that this high
quality Yieldco will recover from the current sector
downturn. So there is plenty of potential upside in CAFD shares, and we get
paid an $0.84 (6.5%) annual dividend while we wait for that upside
to materialize.
Conclusion
Many Yieldcos are currently trading at or below the value of
their current assets. Even investors who believe that the
Yieldco model is broken should consider buying and holding these
stocks at current prices. If Yieldcos stay in the doldrums,
and stock prices will never again recover, investors do not need
the new acquisitions and dividend growth which could follow to
earn an attractive risk-adjusted return.
Disclosure: Long NYLD/A, GLBL, CAFD, FSLR.
http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2015/10/yieldcos_calling_the_bottom.html
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