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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
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 stock to keep an eye on is Mistras Group (MG). MG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.72 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 24.97. Over the past year, MG's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.54 and as low as 9.71, with a median of 10.92.
Another notable valuation metric for MG is its P/B ratio of 1.57. 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 3.59. MG's P/B has been as high as 1.67 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 1.26, over the past year.
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. MG has a P/S ratio of 0.41. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.93.
Finally, our model also underscores that MG has a P/CF ratio of 10.38. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 18.40. MG's P/CF has been as high as 17.67 and as low as 4.49, with a median of 10.84, all within the past year.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Mistras Group is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, MG feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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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.
