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Zacks.com featured highlights Greif, G-III Apparel Group, USA Truck, SpartanNash and AdvanSix

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 25, 2022 – Stocks in this week’s article are Greif, Inc. (GEF - Free Report) , G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (GIII - Free Report) , USA Truck, Inc. , SpartanNash Co. (SPTN - Free Report) and AdvanSix Inc. (ASIX - Free Report) .

Pick These 5 Bargain Stocks with Attractive EV-to-EBITDA Ratios

The price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple enjoys wide-scale popularity among investors seeking stocks trading at a bargain. In addition to being a widely-used tool for screening stocks, P/E is a popular metric to work out the fair market value of a firm. But even this ubiquitously used valuation multiple has a few downsides.

Although P/E is the most popular valuation metric, a more complicated multiple called EV-to-EBITDA works even better. Often considered a better alternative to P/E, it gives the true picture of a company's valuation and earning potential, and has a more complete approach to valuation. While P/E considers a firm's equity portion, EV-to-EBITDA determines its total value.

Greif, Inc., G-III Apparel Group, Ltd., USA Truck, Inc., SpartanNash Co. and AdvanSix Inc. are some stocks with impressive EV-to-EBITDA ratios.

Is EV-to-EBITDA a Better Substitute to P/E?

EV-to-EBITDA is the enterprise value (EV) of a stock divided by its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). EV is the sum of a company's market capitalization, its debt and preferred stock minus cash and cash equivalents.

The other component of the multiple, EBITDA, gives a better idea of a company's profitability as it removes the impact of non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortization that reduce net earnings. It is also often used as a proxy for cash flows.

Typically, the lower the EV-to-EBITDA ratio, the more attractive it is. A low EV-to-EBITDA ratio could signal that a stock is potentially undervalued.  

Unlike the P/E ratio, EV-to-EBITDA takes debt on a company's balance sheet into account. For this reason, it is typically used to value potential acquisition targets. The ratio shows the amount of debt that the acquirer has to bear. Stocks flaunting a low EV-to-EBITDA multiple could be seen as attractive takeover candidates.

Another shortcoming of P/E is that it can't be used to value a loss-making firm. A company's earnings are also subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. On the other hand, EV-to-EBITDA is difficult to manipulate and can also be used to value companies making losses but are EBITDA-positive.

EV-to-EBITDA is also a useful tool in evaluating the value of firms that are highly leveraged and have a high degree of depreciation. Moreover, it can be used to compare companies with different levels of debt.

But EV-to-EBITDA has its limitations too. The ratio varies across industries (a high-growth industry typically has a higher multiple and vice versa) and is usually not appropriate while comparing stocks in different industries, given their diverse capital requirements.

Therefore, instead of solely relying on EV-to-EBITDA, you can club it with the other major ratios such as price-to-book (P/B), P/E and price-to-sales (P/S) to achieve the desired outcome.

Here are our five picks out of the 16 stocks that passed the screen:

Greif is a leading global producer of industrial packaging products and services. This Zacks Rank #1 stock has a Value Score of A.

Greif has an expected year-over-year earnings growth rate of 36.8% for the current fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GEF's current fiscal-year earnings has been revised 17.8% upward over the past 60 days.

G-III Apparel is a manufacturer, designer and distributor of apparel and accessories under licensed brands, owned brands and private label brands. This Zacks Rank #1 stock has a Value Score of A. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

G-III Apparel has an expected earnings growth rate of 10.4% for the current fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIII's current-year earnings has been revised 4.7% upward over the past 60 days.

USA Truck is engaged in the transportation of general commodity freight in interstate and foreign commerce. This Zacks Rank #1 stock has a Value Score of B.

USA Truck has an expected earnings growth rate of 59.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for USAK's current-year earnings has been revised 15.8% upward over the past 60 days.

SpartanNash distributes grocery products to a diverse group of independent and chain retailers, its corporate-owned retail stores, and U.S. military commissaries and exchanges. This Zacks Rank #2 stock has a Value Score of A.

SpartanNash has an expected earnings growth rate of 35.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SPTN's current-year earnings has been revised 11.7% upward over the past 60 days.

AdvanSix is a manufacturer of nylon 6 resin, chemical intermediates and ammonium sulfate fertilizer. This Zacks Rank #2 stock has a Value Score of A.

AdvanSix has an expected earnings growth rate of 66.1% for the current year. ASIX has outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters. In this time frame, it has delivered an earnings surprise of 20.5%, on average.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

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For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/1956268/pick-these-5-bargain-stocks-with-attractive-ev-to-ebitda-ratios

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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