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Is Olympic Steel (ZEUS) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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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.

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 use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One stock to keep an eye on is Olympic Steel (ZEUS - Free Report) . ZEUS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 13.07, which compares to its industry's average of 32.25. Over the past year, ZEUS's Forward P/E has been as high as 5,036.97 and as low as -7,555.57, with a median of 25.72.

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. ZEUS has a P/S ratio of 0.26. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.59.

Finally, investors should note that ZEUS has a P/CF ratio of 22.88. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. ZEUS's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 70.40. Over the past year, ZEUS's P/CF has been as high as 24.34 and as low as 4.08, with a median of 11.33.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Olympic Steel's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ZEUS looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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