Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy TOTAL SE (TOT) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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

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 to watch right now is TOTAL SE . TOT is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.07. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.61. TOT's Forward P/E has been as high as 29.59 and as low as 9.84, with a median of 15.13, all within the past year.

We also note that TOT holds a PEG ratio of 0.54. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. TOT's industry currently sports an average PEG of 0.74. Within the past year, TOT's PEG has been as high as 71.97 and as low as 0.52, with a median of 3.86.

We should also highlight that TOT has a P/B ratio of 1.08. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.10. TOT's P/B has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.74, with a median of 0.99, over the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in TOTAL SE'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, TOT looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

Published in