The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Smart Sand (SND). SND is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.47 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.98. Over the past year, SND's Forward P/E has been as high as 41.69 and as low as -5,657.50, with a median of 13.37.

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. SND has a P/S ratio of 0.28. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.63.

Finally, we should also recognize that SND has a P/CF ratio of 2.38. 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. SND's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 5.91. Within the past 12 months, SND's P/CF has been as high as 4.32 and as low as 2.04, with a median of 2.69.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Smart Sand is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, SND feels like a great value stock at the moment.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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