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Are Investors Undervaluing Motorcar Parts (MPAA) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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 use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Motorcar Parts (MPAA - Free Report) . MPAA 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 8.54. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.92. Over the past 52 weeks, MPAA's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.45 and as low as 5.24, with a median of 9.25.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MPAA's P/B ratio of 1.30. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 2.23. Over the past 12 months, MPAA's P/B has been as high as 1.61 and as low as 0.72, with a median of 1.16.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. MPAA has a P/S ratio of 0.69. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.92.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Motorcar Parts'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 MPAA is an impressive value stock right now.


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