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Is PetroChina (PTR) 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.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company to watch right now is PetroChina . PTR 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 8.89, which compares to its industry's average of 11.83. Over the past 52 weeks, PTR's Forward P/E has been as high as 1,467.25 and as low as 7.74, with a median of 20.58.

Investors should also recognize that PTR has a P/B ratio of 0.39. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.10. Over the past year, PTR's P/B has been as high as 0.39 and as low as 0.26, with a median of 0.31.

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

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