Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is USA Truck (USAK) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is USA Truck . USAK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 10.41, which compares to its industry's average of 29.04. Over the last 12 months, USAK's Forward P/E has been as high as 4,285.73 and as low as -4,143, with a median of 11.47.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is USAK's P/B ratio of 1.55. 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. USAK's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.05. Within the past 52 weeks, USAK's P/B has been as high as 1.71 and as low as 0.32, with a median of 1.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in USA Truck'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 USAK is an impressive value stock right now.

Published in