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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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 Sierra Metals Inc. (SMTS). SMTS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.46 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.20. Over the past year, SMTS’s Forward P/E has been as high as 12.50 and as low as 2.59, with a median of 7.41.
Another notable valuation metric for SMTS is its P/B ratio of 2.38. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock’s market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock’s P/B looks solid versus its industry’s average P/B of 3.36. Within the past 52 weeks, SMTS’s P/B has been as high as 2.69 and as low as 0.50, with a median of 1.17.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock’s price with the company’s sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can’t really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. SMTS has a P/S ratio of 2.31. This compares to its industry’s average P/S of 3.64.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that SMTS has a P/CF ratio of 9.41. This metric focuses on a firm’s operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This stock’s P/CF looks attractive against its industry’s average P/CF of 34.75. Over the past 52 weeks, SMTS’s P/CF has been as high as 10.61 and as low as 2.43, with a median of 5.62.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Sierra Metals Inc. Is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, SMTS feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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