Euronav: Attractive Risk/Reward Profile
Jan. 3, 2021 9:59 AM ET|19 comments | About: Euronav NV (EURN), Includes: DHT, DSSI, FRO, INSW, NAT, NNA, OSG, TNK, TNP, TOPS
Babis Tsamkosoglou
Babis Tsamkosoglou
Long/Short Equity, Deep Value, Value, Energy Maritime
(499 followers)
Summary
Euronav is well-positioned to weather the market headwinds due to its solid financial position.
Clear disconnect between equity and net asset values suggests a 25% capital return.
The trade-off between risk and reward is skewed to the upside.
Key Takeaway
Euronav (EURN) reported revenues of $241 million, an EBITDA of $152 million and $0.22 earnings per share. Turning to the balance sheet, the company maintained its solid financial position. Specifically, EURN finished the quarter with a $1.2 billion liquidity, $162 million in cash and the remainder parked as revolving capacity. Also, the company’s net debt to total capitalization stands at 28% compared to peers' mean of 40%. Finally, EURN returned to the shareholders $0.09/share in cash dividends and $18.5 million in share buybacks.
The fourth quarter of the year did not follow the usual seasonal pattern. The OPEC+ production cuts and slow recovery in oil demand coupled with the increased short-term tonnage availability painted a challenging picture for the tanker market.
Looking into 2021, the market is forecasted to be weak in the first quarter due to the unloading of the onshore and offshore storage. Yet, improvements in the market are expected later in 2021. In particular, EIA forecasts that global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels will average 98.2 million b/d in 2021 increased by 5.8 million b/d from 2020 (or 92.4 million b/d).
EURN is well-positioned to weather the market headwinds. The company's resilience is mainly attributable to the prudent leverage profile supported by over $1 billion liquidity. Also, management is committed to enhancing shareholders’ returns through share repurchases and dividend distributions.
In light of the recent decline in asset values, the target price for the company’s equity changes to $10/share or 1x the net asset valuation (NAV) (from $15/share in February 2020). Finally, the company’s attractive risk/reward profile suggests a BUY rating.
Equity market dislocation suggests a 25% upside to the target price
The equity valuation is based on the latest market values for a 5-year-old VLCC and Suezmax vessel as reported from Intermodal Research. In particular, the market values are:
5-year-old VLCC at $63 million.
5-year-old Suezmax at $42 million.
Those values are adjusted for depreciation according to the fleet age profile. All other amounts are as of September 30, 2020. The chart below shows the main drivers of EURN’s net asset valuation.
The company’s NAV is at $10/share. At the time of this writing, Euronav’s equity trades at $8/share. As a result, there is a 25% disconnect between equity and net asset values.
Management has already identified the equity market dislocation. As a result, the company has in place a share repurchase program as part of its capital allocation strategy. Under the program, EURN now owns 18.3 million shares (or 8.3% of the total outstanding share count). As of today, the company earmarked c. $120 million for share repurchases.
All things considered, my target price for the stock is at $10/share or 1.0x NAV multiple. Considering the current market valuation at $8/share and the company’s risk/reward profile, the investment case suggests a BUY strategy for Euronav’s equity.
The table below presents a comparison between EURN and its direct competitors (Teekay Tankers (TNK), DHT Holdings Inc. (DHT), International Seaways Inc. (INSW), Diamond S Shipping Inc. (DSSI), Nordic American Tankers (NAT), Frontline (FRO), Tsakos Energy Navigation (TNP), Navios Maritime Acquisitions (NNA), Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG) and Top Ships (TOPS)) for several key metrics.
It is important to note that for the key metric of EV/EBITDA, the company trades at a 2.7x multiple with peers' mean at 4.9x. It is worth highlighting that EURN’s multiple is the second lowest across the board.