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Should Value Investors Buy Global Ship Lease (GSL) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 company to watch right now is Global Ship Lease (GSL - Free Report) . GSL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 2.52 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 6.09. Over the last 12 months, GSL's Forward P/E has been as high as 3.98 and as low as 1.85, with a median of 2.28.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is GSL's P/B ratio of 0.83. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. GSL's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.32. Within the past 52 weeks, GSL's P/B has been as high as 1.51 and as low as 0.63, with a median of 0.78.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. GSL has a P/S ratio of 1.2. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.22.

Finally, we should also recognize that GSL has a P/CF ratio of 2.30. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 3.45. GSL's P/CF has been as high as 5.16 and as low as 1.76, with a median of 2.22, all within the past year.

SFL (SFL - Free Report) may be another strong Transportation - Shipping stock to add to your shortlist. SFL is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Furthermore, SFL holds a P/B ratio of 1.31 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 1.32. SFL's P/B has been as high as 1.57, as low as 1.15, with a median of 1.31 over the past 12 months.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Global Ship Lease and SFL are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, GSL and SFL sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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