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Should Value Investors Buy These Transportation 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings . AAWW is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 6.63, which compares to its industry's average of 14.84. AAWW's Forward P/E has been as high as 51.04 and as low as 5.15, with a median of 7.08, all within the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's 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. AAWW has a P/S ratio of 0.61. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.67.

Another great Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo stock you could consider is FedEx (FDX - Free Report) , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

FedEx is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 10.95 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.91. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 14.84 and average PEG ratio of 1.23.

FDX's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.19 and as low as 10.40, with a median of 13.17. During the same time period, its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.43, as low as 0.87, with a median of 1.10.

Additionally, FedEx has a P/B ratio of 2.60 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 9.14. For FDX, this valuation metric has been as high as 3.81, as low as 2.38, with a median of 3.07 over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and FedEx'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 AAWW and FDX is an impressive value stock right now.


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