The market is trying to cope with geopolitical tension, thanks to Russia and Ukraine conflict, supply chain bottlenecks, and soaring inflation. Well, the rising crude prices on concerns about supplies from Russia is a bit worrying factor. The Federal Reserve’s greatest challenge now is to rein in soaring inflation, and it is treading the path of steady rate hike to tame the same.
Evidently, the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance calls for a prudent investment strategy. So, as investors rebalance their portfolios, market pundits are placing their bets on value stocks.
Value style is considered one of the best practices when it comes to picking stocks. Value investing is essentially about selecting stocks that are fundamentally sound but have been beaten down by some external factors. Such stocks are poised to bounce back as and when investors recognize the inherent value of companies. Certainly, the value investment strategy best suits investors with a long-term horizon.
There are different valuation metrics to determine a stock’s inherent strength. Still, a random selection of a ratio cannot serve your purpose if you want a realistic assessment of a company’s financial position. For this, we would suggest the Price to Cash Flow (or P/CF) ratio as one of the key metrics.
This metric evaluates the market price of a stock relative to the amount of cash flow that the company is generating on a per-share basis – the lower the number, the better. One of the important factors that make P/CF a highly dependable metric is that operating cash flow adds back non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization to net income, truly diagnosing a company's financial health.
Analysts caution that a company’s earnings are subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. However, cash flow is reliable. Net cash flow unveils how much money a company is actually generating and how effectively management is deploying the same.
Positive cash flow indicates an increase in a company’s liquid assets. It gives the company the means to settle debt, meet its expenses, reinvest in its business, endure downturns and finally pay back its shareholders. Negative cash flow implies a decline in the company’s liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves.
However, solely based on the P/CF metric, an investment decision may not fetch the desired results. To identify stocks trading at a discount, you should expand your search criteria and consider price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio, and price-to-sales ratio. Adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a Value Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to even better results as these eliminate the chance of falling into a value trap.
The Bargain Hunting Strategy
Here are the parameters for selecting true value stocks:
P/CF less than or equal to X-Industry Median.
Price greater than or equal to 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.
Average 20-Day Volume greater than 100,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.
P/E using (F1) less than or equal to X-Industry Median: This parameter shortlists stocks that are trading at a discount or are equal to its peers.
P/B less than or equal to X-Industry Median: A lower P/B compared with the industry average implies that there is enough room for the stock to gain.
P/S less than or equal to X-Industry Median: The P/S ratio determines how a stock price compares to the company’s sales — the lower the ratio the more attractive the stock is.
PEG less than 1: The ratio is used to determine a stock's value by taking the company's earnings growth into account. PEG ratio gives a more complete picture than P/E ratio. A value of less than 1 indicates that the stock is undervalued and that investors need to pay less for a stock that has robust earnings growth prospect.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.
Value Score of less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a Style Score of A or B when combined with Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.
Here are four of the 12 stocks that qualified the screening:
TotalEnergies SE (TTE - Free Report) , which operates as an integrated oil and gas company globally, has a Zacks Rank #1 and an expected EPS growth rate of 6.4% for three-five years. TotalEnergies company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.9%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TotalEnergies’ current financial year sales and EPS suggest growth of 4.4% and 58.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period. TotalEnergies has a Value Score of A. Shares of TTE have gained 7.9% in the past year.
Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG - Free Report) , the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has an expected EPS growth rate of 8% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 73.8%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Signet's current financial-year sales suggest growth of 5.2% from the year-ago period. SIG has a Value Score of A. The stock has advanced 17% in the past year.
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (VSH - Free Report) , which manufactures and supplies discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components, carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has an expected EPS growth rate of 22.7% for three-five years.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VSH’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 5.6% and 4.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period. Vishay Intertechnology has a Value Score of A. Shares of VSH have declined 27.8% in the past year.
Gray Television, Inc. (GTN - Free Report) , a multimedia company, has a Zacks Rank #2 and an expected EPS growth rate of 10% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.5%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Gray Television’s current financial year sales suggest growth of 51.4% from the year-ago period. Gray Television has a Value Score of A. Shares of GTN have fallen 1.1% in the past year.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and backtest them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
The market is trying to cope with geopolitical tension, thanks to Russia and Ukraine conflict, supply chain bottlenecks, and soaring inflation. Well, the rising crude prices on concerns about supplies from Russia is a bit worrying factor. The Federal Reserve’s greatest challenge now is to rein in soaring inflation, and it is treading the path of steady rate hike to tame the same.
Evidently, the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance calls for a prudent investment strategy. So, as investors rebalance their portfolios, market pundits are placing their bets on value stocks.
Value style is considered one of the best practices when it comes to picking stocks. Value investing is essentially about selecting stocks that are fundamentally sound but have been beaten down by some external factors. Such stocks are poised to bounce back as and when investors recognize the inherent value of companies. Certainly, the value investment strategy best suits investors with a long-term horizon.
There are different valuation metrics to determine a stock’s inherent strength. Still, a random selection of a ratio cannot serve your purpose if you want a realistic assessment of a company’s financial position. For this, we would suggest the Price to Cash Flow (or P/CF) ratio as one of the key metrics.
This metric evaluates the market price of a stock relative to the amount of cash flow that the company is generating on a per-share basis – the lower the number, the better. One of the important factors that make P/CF a highly dependable metric is that operating cash flow adds back non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization to net income, truly diagnosing a company's financial health.
Analysts caution that a company’s earnings are subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. However, cash flow is reliable. Net cash flow unveils how much money a company is actually generating and how effectively management is deploying the same.
Positive cash flow indicates an increase in a company’s liquid assets. It gives the company the means to settle debt, meet its expenses, reinvest in its business, endure downturns and finally pay back its shareholders. Negative cash flow implies a decline in the company’s liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves.
However, solely based on the P/CF metric, an investment decision may not fetch the desired results. To identify stocks trading at a discount, you should expand your search criteria and consider price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio, and price-to-sales ratio. Adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a Value Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to even better results as these eliminate the chance of falling into a value trap.
The Bargain Hunting Strategy
Here are the parameters for selecting true value stocks:
P/CF less than or equal to X-Industry Median.
Price greater than or equal to 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.
Average 20-Day Volume greater than 100,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.
P/E using (F1) less than or equal to X-Industry Median: This parameter shortlists stocks that are trading at a discount or are equal to its peers.
P/B less than or equal to X-Industry Median: A lower P/B compared with the industry average implies that there is enough room for the stock to gain.
P/S less than or equal to X-Industry Median: The P/S ratio determines how a stock price compares to the company’s sales — the lower the ratio the more attractive the stock is.
PEG less than 1: The ratio is used to determine a stock's value by taking the company's earnings growth into account. PEG ratio gives a more complete picture than P/E ratio. A value of less than 1 indicates that the stock is undervalued and that investors need to pay less for a stock that has robust earnings growth prospect.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.
Value Score of less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a Style Score of A or B when combined with Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.
Here are four of the 12 stocks that qualified the screening:
TotalEnergies SE (TTE - Free Report) , which operates as an integrated oil and gas company globally, has a Zacks Rank #1 and an expected EPS growth rate of 6.4% for three-five years. TotalEnergies company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.9%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TotalEnergies’ current financial year sales and EPS suggest growth of 4.4% and 58.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period. TotalEnergies has a Value Score of A. Shares of TTE have gained 7.9% in the past year.
Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG - Free Report) , the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has an expected EPS growth rate of 8% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 73.8%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Signet's current financial-year sales suggest growth of 5.2% from the year-ago period. SIG has a Value Score of A. The stock has advanced 17% in the past year.
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (VSH - Free Report) , which manufactures and supplies discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components, carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has an expected EPS growth rate of 22.7% for three-five years.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VSH’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 5.6% and 4.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period. Vishay Intertechnology has a Value Score of A. Shares of VSH have declined 27.8% in the past year.
Gray Television, Inc. (GTN - Free Report) , a multimedia company, has a Zacks Rank #2 and an expected EPS growth rate of 10% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.5%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Gray Television’s current financial year sales suggest growth of 51.4% from the year-ago period. Gray Television has a Value Score of A. Shares of GTN have fallen 1.1% in the past year.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and backtest them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
Get the latest research report on SIG - FREE
Get the latest research report on VSH - FREE
Get the latest research report on GTN - FREE
Get the latest research report on TTE - FREE