Is Matson (MATX) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

MATX

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. 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 stock to keep an eye on is Matson (MATX - Free Report) . MATX is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.95. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.03. Over the past year, MATX's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.26 and as low as 8.76, with a median of 13.20.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MATX's P/B ratio of 3.21. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 4.18. Within the past 52 weeks, MATX's P/B has been as high as 3.47 and as low as 2.31, with a median of 2.81.

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. MATX has a P/S ratio of 1.21. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.38.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Matson's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that MATX is an impressive value stock right now.

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