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Should Value Investors Buy Patrick Industries (PATK) Stock?

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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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is Patrick Industries (PATK - Free Report) . PATK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 6.10. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.69. PATK's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.21 and as low as 5.72, with a median of 8.95, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that PATK has a P/B ratio of 2.10. 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. PATK's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.46. Over the past 12 months, PATK's P/B has been as high as 3.89 and as low as 1.90, with a median of 2.87.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. PATK has a P/S ratio of 0.4. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.17.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that PATK has a P/CF ratio of 4.70. 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 7.56. Within the past 12 months, PATK's P/CF has been as high as 11.76 and as low as 4.25, with a median of 6.58.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Patrick Industries is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, PATK feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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