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Should Value Investors Buy These Oils-Energy Stocks?

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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.

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.

Suburban Propane Partners (SPH - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. SPH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.93 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.32. Over the last 12 months, SPH's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.53 and as low as 6.93, with a median of 10.32.

We should also highlight that SPH has a P/B ratio of 2.12. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 2.58. Over the past year, SPH's P/B has been as high as 2.66 and as low as 1.83, with a median of 2.19.

Finally, we should also recognize that SPH has a P/CF ratio of 3.99. 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 8.01. Within the past 12 months, SPH's P/CF has been as high as 5.84 and as low as 3.99, with a median of 4.55.

Investors could also keep in mind Sunoco (SUN - Free Report) , an Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing - Master Limited Partnerships stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Additionally, Sunoco has a P/B ratio of 4.71 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 2.58. For SUN, this valuation metric has been as high as 5.48, as low as 4.43, with a median of 4.88 over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Suburban Propane Partners and Sunoco'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 SPH and SUN is an impressive value stock right now.


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