While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.
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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.
Portland General Electric (POR) is a stock many investors are watching right now. POR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 12.86, which compares to its industry's average of 15.27. Over the past 52 weeks, POR's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.41 and as low as 12.04, with a median of 13.05.
Investors should also recognize that POR has a P/B ratio of 1.22. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.63. Within the past 52 weeks, POR's P/B has been as high as 1.44 and as low as 1.13, with a median of 1.21.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. POR has a P/S ratio of 1.5. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.58.
Finally, our model also underscores that POR has a P/CF ratio of 5.69. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 13.30. Over the past 52 weeks, POR's P/CF has been as high as 6.49 and as low as 5.28, with a median of 5.71.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Portland General Electric is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, POR sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Portland General Electric Company (POR): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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