Lumenpulse is undervalued, says Echelon Wealth Partners

Ahead of its Q2, 2017 results, Echelon Wealth Partners analyst Amr Ezzat is feeling bullish about Lumenpulse (Lumenpulse Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:LMP).

On Thursday, December 8, Lumenpulse will report its second quarter results. The company is following on a first quarter in which it lost $0.01 a share on revenue of $45.3-million, a topline that was up 42 per cent over 2016’s first quarter.

Ezzat believes Lumenpulse is entering a phase of its development where the bottom line will become more consistent. He thinks the stock is undervalued.

“We believe the current valuation does not properly reflect the Company’s best-in-class earnings growth profile,” says the analyst. “Admittedly, management was focused in F2015 and F2016 on bolstering its product offering by executing and digesting acquisitions. F2017 is pegged as a year of execution where we foresee the Company focusing its efforts on integration, transitioning LMP into a double-digit EBITDA margin operator. While we recognize some of the lumpiness in quarterly performance and acquisition related one-timers, we expect these to taper off as early as the current fiscal year, significantly improving sales visibility and earnings quality. Namely, we expect Adj. EBITDA margins to reach 20.1% by F2020, up from 7.6% in F2016, driving a 65.9% Adj. EBITDA CAGR over the same period. ROIC moves from negative territory to 7% during the current fiscal year. Longer term, at higher utilization levels, we anticipate LMP to be a high-20% ROIC operator.”

In a research update to clients today, Ezzat maintained his “Buy” rating and one-year price target of $22.00 on Lumenpulse, implying a return of 30.6 per cent at the time of publication.

Ezzat thinks Lumenpulse will post Adjusted EBITDA of $26.4-million in fiscal 2017. He expects these numbers will improve to EBITDA of $41-million on a topline of $279.2-million the following year.