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Should Value Investors Buy United States Steel (X) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find 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 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 stock to keep an eye on is United States Steel (X - Free Report) . X is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 2.95. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 4.26. Over the last 12 months, X's Forward P/E has been as high as 79.88 and as low as -271.94, with a median of 3.91.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is X's P/B ratio of 0.97. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.57. Over the past year, X's P/B has been as high as 1.65 and as low as 0.52, with a median of 1.14.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. X has a P/S ratio of 0.43. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.56.

Finally, investors should note that X has a P/CF ratio of 3.74. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. X's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10.23. X's P/CF has been as high as 5.16 and as low as -27.55, with a median of -3.30, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in United States Steel's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that X is an impressive value stock right now.


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