Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.
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 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 company to watch right now is Materialise (MTLS). MTLS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 31.44, which compares to its industry's average of 33.67. MTLS's Forward P/E has been as high as 76.57 and as low as 30.88, with a median of 32.13, all within the past year.
Investors should also recognize that MTLS has a P/B ratio of 1.14. 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 3.15. Within the past 52 weeks, MTLS's P/B has been as high as 2.12 and as low as 1.11, with a median of 1.32.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. MTLS has a P/S ratio of 1.05. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.04.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Materialise is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MTLS sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
