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Should Value Investors Buy ArcelorMittal (MT) Stock?

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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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 ArcelorMittal (MT - Free Report) . MT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 4.60 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 5.73. MT's Forward P/E has been as high as 490 and as low as -549.57, with a median of 6.12, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that MT has a P/B ratio of 0.74. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 1.90. Over the past year, MT's P/B has been as high as 0.82 and as low as 0.28, with a median of 0.57.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. MT has a P/S ratio of 0.57. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.6.

Finally, we should also recognize that MT has a P/CF ratio of 6.78. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.06. MT's P/CF has been as high as 15.68 and as low as -12.35, with a median of -6.06, all within the past year.

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


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