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Is Murphy Oil (MUR) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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.

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 value investors might notice is Murphy Oil (MUR - Free Report) . MUR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 4.59 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 5.93. Over the past 52 weeks, MUR's Forward P/E has been as high as 21.68 and as low as 3.72, with a median of 9.88.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MUR's P/B ratio of 1.31. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.52. MUR's P/B has been as high as 1.67 and as low as 0.76, with a median of 1.14, over the past year.

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. MUR has a P/S ratio of 2.01. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.03.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that MUR has a P/CF ratio of 4.74. 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. MUR's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 8.35. MUR's P/CF has been as high as 29.64 and as low as 3.37, with a median of 7.32, all within the past year.

If you're looking for another solid Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States value stock, take a look at Northern Oil and Gas (NOG - Free Report) . NOG is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

Northern Oil and Gas is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 3.42 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.33. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 5.93 and average PEG ratio of 0.16.

NOG's Forward P/E has been as high as 6.09 and as low as 2.76, with a median of 3.90. During the same time period, its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.85, as low as 0.08, with a median of 0.29.

Northern Oil and Gas sports a P/B ratio of 15.36 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.52. In the past 52 weeks, NOG's P/B has been as high as 16.54, as low as -81.10, with a median of -7.68.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Murphy Oil and Northern Oil and Gas strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, MUR and NOG look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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