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.
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.
Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.
One stock to keep an eye on is PattersonUTI Energy (PTEN). PTEN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is PTEN's P/B ratio of 0.62. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.33. Over the past 12 months, PTEN's P/B has been as high as 1.06 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.80.
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. PTEN has a P/S ratio of 0.49. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.19.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that PattersonUTI Energy is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, PTEN sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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