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.
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 company value investors might notice is Helix Energy Solutions Group (HLX). HLX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.33, while its industry has an average P/E of 10.90. HLX's Forward P/E has been as high as 33.05 and as low as 7.83, with a median of 14.49, all within the past year.
Another notable valuation metric for HLX is its P/B ratio of 0.64. 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. HLX's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.73. HLX's P/B has been as high as 1.30 and as low as 0.60, with a median of 1.02, over the past year.
Finally, our model also underscores that HLX has a P/CF ratio of 5.03. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 5.87. Over the past 52 weeks, HLX's P/CF has been as high as 12.68 and as low as 4.71, with a median of 8.84.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Helix Energy Solutions Group'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, HLX looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (HLX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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