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Should Value Investors Buy Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL (ELP) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. 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.

One company value investors might notice is Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL (ELP - Free Report) . ELP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 11.03, while its industry has an average P/E of 15.24. Over the past year, ELP's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.47 and as low as 3.37, with a median of 9.93.

Investors should also recognize that ELP has a P/B ratio of 0.94. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 2.19. Within the past 52 weeks, ELP's P/B has been as high as 1.04 and as low as 0.68, with a median of 0.85.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. ELP has a P/S ratio of 0.71. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.01.

Investors could also keep in mind RWE AG (RWEOY - Free Report) , an Utility - Electric Power stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Shares of RWE AG are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 10.69 and a PEG ratio of 7.37 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 15.24 and 2.17, respectively.

Over the last 12 months, RWEOY's P/E has been as high as 20.53, as low as 8.72, with a median of 17.49, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 7.53, as low as 2.45, with a median of 3.99.

RWE AG also has a P/B ratio of 2.90 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 2.19. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 2.96, as low as 1.14, with a median of 2.32.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL and RWE AG are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, ELP and RWEOY feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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