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Are Investors Undervaluing These Transportation Stocks Right Now?

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

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 stock to keep an eye on is Hoegh LNG Partners . HMLP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 2.84, which compares to its industry's average of 4.15. Over the last 12 months, HMLP's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.13 and as low as 2.84, with a median of 9.33.

Investors will also notice that HMLP has a PEG ratio of 0.45. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. HMLP's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.51. Over the past 52 weeks, HMLP's PEG has been as high as 1.95 and as low as 0.45, with a median of 1.54.

Another notable valuation metric for HMLP is its P/B ratio of 0.41. 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 0.97. Over the past year, HMLP's P/B has been as high as 1.86 and as low as 0.41, with a median of 1.51.

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. HMLP has a P/S ratio of 0.94. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.31.

Finally, our model also underscores that HMLP has a P/CF ratio of 1.58. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. HMLP's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 6.11. HMLP's P/CF has been as high as 6.31 and as low as 1.46, with a median of 5.22, all within the past year.

Investors could also keep in mind Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NPNYY - Free Report) , an Transportation - Shipping stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha sports a P/B ratio of 1.51 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 0.97. In the past 52 weeks, NPNYY's P/B has been as high as 2.30, as low as 0.73, with a median of 1.15.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Hoegh LNG Partners and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, HMLP and NPNYY sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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