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Should Value Investors Buy Arkema (ARKAY) Stock?

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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, 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 Arkema (ARKAY - Free Report) . ARKAY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.28. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.98. Over the past 52 weeks, ARKAY's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.48 and as low as 5.66, with a median of 8.87.

Another notable valuation metric for ARKAY is its P/B ratio of 0.97. 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 2.66. Over the past 12 months, ARKAY's P/B has been as high as 1.55 and as low as 0.65, with a median of 0.90.

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. ARKAY has a P/S ratio of 0.6. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.75.

Finally, we should also recognize that ARKAY has a P/CF ratio of 4.13. 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. ARKAY's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 9.75. ARKAY's P/CF has been as high as 4.30 and as low as 2.50, with a median of 3.39, all within the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Arkema'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, ARKAY looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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