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Is Standard Motor Products (SMP) Stock Undervalued 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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 company to watch right now is Standard Motor Products (SMP - Free Report) . SMP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.83, while its industry has an average P/E of 12.83. Over the past 52 weeks, SMP's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.16 and as low as 10.17, with a median of 12.02.

We should also highlight that SMP has a P/B ratio of 1.76. 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 2.68. Over the past 12 months, SMP's P/B has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.53, with a median of 1.76.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. SMP has a P/S ratio of 0.78. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.3.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that SMP has a P/CF ratio of 9.71. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. SMP's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.05. Over the past year, SMP's P/CF has been as high as 11.87 and as low as 8.08, with a median of 9.94.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Standard Motor Products is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, SMP sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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