Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.
Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.
One company to watch right now is Koppers (KOP). KOP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.79, while its industry has an average P/E of 17.01. KOP's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.88 and as low as 7.11, with a median of 9.18, all within the past year.
Another notable valuation metric for KOP is its P/B ratio of 1.45. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.94. KOP's P/B has been as high as 2.36 and as low as 1.31, with a median of 1.81, over the past year.
Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. KOP has a P/S ratio of 0.36. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.75.
Finally, we should also recognize that KOP has a P/CF ratio of 5.57. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 11.29. KOP's P/CF has been as high as 9.07 and as low as 5.02, with a median of 6.71, all within the past year.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Koppers's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, KOP looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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