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Are Investors Undervaluing PetroChina (PTR) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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 company to watch right now is PetroChina . PTR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.

We also note that PTR holds a PEG ratio of 18.30. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. PTR's industry has an average PEG of 50.84 right now. Within the past year, PTR's PEG has been as high as 12,987.12 and as low as -1,647.89, with a median of 19.06.

Investors should also recognize that PTR has a P/B ratio of 0.34. 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. PTR's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 0.74. Within the past 52 weeks, PTR's P/B has been as high as 0.37 and as low as 0.26, with a median of 0.31.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that PetroChina is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, PTR sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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