Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?

One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put GasLog Partners LP stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, GasLog Partners has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 10.65, as you can see in the chart below:



This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 20.04. While GasLog Partners’ current PE level puts it above its midpoint of 9.26 over the past few years, the current level stands slightly below the highs for the stock.
 

Further, the stock’s PE compares favorably with the Transportation sector’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 16.17. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now, compared to its peers.
 


We should also point out that GasLog Partners forward PE is roughly same as its trailing twelve months value, so we might say that the forward earnings estimates are incorporated in the company’s share price as of now. We define forward PE as current price relative to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current fiscal year.

PEG Ratio

While earnings are certainly important, it is essential to know how much you are paying for the growth of earnings as well. One can easily do that with the PEG ratio (ratio of the P/E to the expected future earnings growth rate). The PEG ratio gives a more complete picture of the valuation of a stock than the P/E ratio.

GasLog Partners’ PEG ratio stands at just 1.03, compared with the industry average of 3.59. This suggests a decent undervalued trading relative to its earnings growth potential right now.



Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, GasLog Partners currently has a Zacks Value Style Score of ‘A’, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes GasLog Partners a solid choice for value investors.

What About the Stock Overall?

Though GasLog Partners might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of ‘D’ and a Momentum score of ‘C’. This gives GLOP a Zacks VGM score—or its overarching fundamental grade—of ‘B’. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>)

Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been quite disappointing. The current quarter has seen four estimates go lower in the past sixty days compared to one upward revision, while the full year estimate has seen two downward and one upward revision in the same time period.

This has had a negative impact on the consensus estimate, as the current quarter consensus estimate has dropped by 9.5% in the past two months, while the full year estimate has dropped 5.8%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

Given these bearish trends, the stock has just a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which indicates why we are looking for in-line performance from the company in the near term.

Bottom Line

GasLog Partners is an inspired choice for value investors, given its impressive lineup of statistics on this front. However, with a sluggish industry rank (Bottom 35%) and a Zacks Rank #3, it is hard to get too excited about this company overall. In fact, over the past two years, the industry has clearly underperformed the broader market, as you can see below:



So, value investors might want to wait for estimates and analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick.

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