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Are Investors Undervaluing Sterling Construction (STRL) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 value investors might notice is Sterling Construction (STRL - Free Report) . STRL is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.89 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.05. STRL's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.85 and as low as 6.81, with a median of 10.66, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for STRL is its P/B ratio of 2.25. 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 2.29. Within the past 52 weeks, STRL's P/B has been as high as 2.63 and as low as 1.15, with a median of 2.16.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. STRL has a P/S ratio of 0.43. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.69.

Finally, our model also underscores that STRL has a P/CF ratio of 7.32. 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 11.04. Over the past 52 weeks, STRL's P/CF has been as high as 8.94 and as low as 3.30, with a median of 7.06.

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


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